#meanwhile Ellie is panicking

[bluerosefox]

BREAKING NEWS! Youngest Wayne's Secret Lovechild?!

Teenage Ellie taking care of deaged Danny and moving to Gotham to hide from Vlad because Lady Gotham offered them sanctuary and will keep Vlad out.

BUT

Chaos is set into motion when during a Rogue attack, Damian Wayne (not as Robin at the moment) saves him and returns Danny to Ellie...

The internet/news happen because of course it did.

And people mistake Danny as his kid and Ellie his baby mama.

[bet-on-me-13]

Ellie worked undercover at Cadmus

So, Ellie has grown up and become an Adult living on her own by now.

She is doing her best to make the most out of her life. She went to school, graduated from College, and even got a Job.

She grew up in a Lab, and learned quite a bit about Genetic Engineering over the course of her life both before and after escaping (Both from Vlad, and from Danny during that Point in time where they were trying to permanently stabilize her).

So, when she gets an offer to join a new start-up Company called Cadmus, she jumped at the opportunity to use her Knowledge to help others. (She was told it was a Research Company that used Genetic Engineering to make medicines)

It wasn't until she had already signed the NDA that she figured out that this was an Illegal Cloning Lab.

Thankfully, she was immune to the Mind Control that they had tried to use on all of the Scientists to make them okay with all of the illegal shit, but she still had to play the part so she could help the poor clones who would be created in this project.

She went Undercover for years. Any time a Clone was deemed a "Failure", she would try her best to save them. She did manage to save a few, sending them to Danny so he could help them find a home, but unfortunately she couldn't save them all.

After a few years, the other scientists began to stress out. The K-Series had been a total failure so far, and none of the Clones had even come close to being Viable. Even the most successful one, identified as Match, couldn't come close to being called an actual success.

So, they went a different route. If Kryptonian DNA didn't want to be Cloned, then maybe they could splice it with some other DNA and force it to work with them?

The Scientists began splicing Human DNA into the Genome, running trials to see if it would be Viable at all before even attempting to create a Full Clone. And they did find some success, preliminary tests showed that Human DNA was uniquely adaptable when it came to splicing, and theoretically it could be used to make a Fully Viable Clone!

When Luthor heard of this, he deemed that nobody aside from himself was worthy of being the "Father", and gave his own DNA to the Scientists to use for the Experiment.

Ellie was put in charge of transporting the DNA to the Lab, but in a random accident (we both know it wasn't, Clockwork), she ends up dropping the Sample. In a rush, she just puts some of her own Blood into the Vial and gives it to the Scientists working on the Gene Splicing Project. (She was panicking, ok?! Nobody would be able to work in a lab like this without getting a little bit of anxiety, and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in days at that point!)

They are thrilled! They don't know why, but Mr Luthor's DNA was so much better at Splicing than any other Human DNA they had ever tested before. He was certainly right about his own DNA being the beat suited for the Job!

Ellie meanwhile is having a bit of a meltdown. She can't believe she just gave them some of her DNA! And they already used it to make a Fetus! She's a mother now! She never wanted to be a Mom!

But she guesses that none of that matters anymore. She's has a son now, and she needs to get him out of there. But how to do it? As the only successful K-Series Clone, he was under the most heavily guarded security imaginable, so there was absolutely no way she would ever be able to sneak him out of there. Even if she used her powers, the Security was primed to scan for any and all foreign energy signatures, even Ecto Energy.

So for now, she was stuck. She couldn't break him out, and she also couldn't just leave the Company and let them abuse all those poor clones like that! She just needed to wait for the right opportunity to get her son out of there, even if it meant that she would have to stay behind.

It wasn't until a team of errant Sidekicks broke into the Lab a few years later, that she had a way out for her son.

[cookie-nom-nom]

I think it would be really great if the first to realize they’re a mind reader on Athos also realized she was trans after accidentally reading Ethan’s mind and going. Wh. That’s a woman?? And then when Terrence tried to do a little chill mentoring and be like hey :) I know your secret :)) she absolutely PANICKED that she’d get revealed as a secret she devil trying to corrupt the lives of innocent brothers or whatever Athos propaganda was like on that front. And obviously bolted.

It’s part way Terrence and Ethan sighing and realizing Adventure tm found them anyway. Like I figure they intended to be very hands off on the grand experiment, a little nudging at most, but also the kid was obviously FREAKED out and having things go very badly very publicly for the first new mind reader could be a bad misstep for the whole project. So they rangled up their gaggle of sons (who were taking an awful lot after Elli for maximum chaos) and declared a manhunt family vacation. It’s a cute look into their domestic life, but also Terrence was obviously feeling really bad about spooking her bc it felt like a ghost of some of his own trauma what with the being hunted down bit.

Meanwhile mind reader was desperately trying to figure out what triggered the sudden ability and how to replicate, if all women were telepaths, and if maybe she could be exorcised??? Could a priest help???? Dealing with a metric ton of internalized transmisogyny and the terrifying idea that maybe people can sense it?? Since that Terrence fellow knew before she did???? And is now hunting her down?!??!????

In proper Bujold fashion she’d probably fall in love with one of their sons, who in his rebellion and desperation to be seen as an adult decided to take the initiative and find what his dads were looking for before they could. He makes her feel like maybe it’s okay to break the mold, she makes him feel seen (and do some introspection on why he’s really acting out). Plus being heterosexual is basically peak rebellion on Athos, though that’s more of a lucky side effect.

It culminated in Terrence and Ethan finally cornering the pair, who are luckily more on the ‘nana can’t catch me’ and ‘oh crap im grounded’ side of things than the previous ‘I’m going to be burned at the stake’ level of catastrophizing. At which point Terrence delivered a long and ambiguous speech of solidarity, lots of ‘I know what it’s like because im the same’ and ‘you’re not a monster or scourge of society’ and enough confusing references to biology and genetics that she cried “thank god the father there’s another woman on this planet!” and started asking a million questions in the trans direction.

only for a very confused Terrence to go “what? No. I’m a telepath like you.”

“oh that….I kinda forgot about that part.”

[arsoooooonmun]

Sick Hearts, One Thump. — Chapter 1

— an Abby Anderson x Reader fanfic

Working with Abby Anderson, aka your ex-girlfriend, was harder than you thought. Who knew she'll drunk text you repeatedly in the middle of the night?

[files attached are 2 pictures and 296 words for narration.]

While you were tending Abby — whose eyes were completely shut and sleeping soundly, your thoughts waved to the question Ellie left off.

"Why did y'all even break up?"

You and Abby became friends in the summer heat. Meeting in the neighbourhood, you just moved in.

She greeted you with a whole smile on her face, that is because she "saw a new best friend" , the little Abby would say.

Despite your very introverted little self, you openly welcomed Abby in your life. Without you realising time has passed.

Shockingly, that's how your friends told you, Abby confessed first. It was at the favourite place you both loved to stay at. Watching the sunrise or sunset while eating ice cream.

It was… romantic.

You never thought Abby had it in her, that's why tears started swelling in your face. Of course she started panicking and rambling stuff that you didn't understand because you kissed her in the middle of it.

You were such a romantic too.

Five years after being officially together with Abby, you finally graduated college. Meanwhile, Abby was still stuck in the hell of the medical field. Yes, you took a different path than Abby, focusing more on business.

And that's where things started to be a blur.

You and Abby fought.

No one knew what it was about, and you were starting to forget it too.

"I told you. I never saw her that way."

"Then why did I see you kissing her!"

Months after that, you saw Abby enter Joel's building — the building you are working at, holding files, and it looks like she just got accepted.

All hell breaks loose.

[elliespeach]

the air that i breathe part two | ellie williams

pairing: ellie williams x afab reader wordcount: 4k synopsis: a camping trip you and ellie embark on takes a devastating turn. with you in the hands of raiders ellie's sanity is brought to her breaking point and she will stop at nothing to get you back. warnings: 18+ ellie n readers headspace is very dark!! depression, panic attacks, horrible desperation, and lots of trauma responses that are vividly described. graphic depictions of violence, kidnapping, reader is confined in a cell by chains, food/water deprivation, hallucinations, there is animal death in this part, ellie is basically santa barabra ellie but multiply it by thirty n reader is like trapped in the dark so i think that counts as claustrophobia. this fic can b very triggering so pls take the tags seriously!! there is little to no fluff in this part my bad author note: hiiii im sorry this took me so long to get out and its not even as long or as good as i want it to beeee. i have been struggling with motivation and this is as much as i could bring myself to do! so sorry for another cliff hanger,, it wasn't suppose to be like that but i am lazzyyy and depressed i hope this worthy

 readers pov – present 

“ellie, wake up–” you begged, pulling your chain as far as you could go. you were nearly dislocating your leg to try to be near her, but the chain only allowed you to go so far and ellie was on the other side of the room. it was dark again, after knocking her out the man had heaved ellie to the far side of the basement, and propped her limp body against the wall. you pleaded with him but he didn’t utter a word and promptly flipped off the lights and harshly slammed the door. spewing curses and mumbles under his breath that you dared not decipher. 

your heart ached, as if it wasn’t already. she was here, she was saving you and now it was like all hope had been ripped away. you wanted to cry, scream and shout but your energy was depleted. the man had also taken her backpack that had been laying by the door, leaving you utterly helpless yet again. you had grown accustomed to the dark in your time held prisoner, time still didn’t make any sense to you. but you knew it had only been a few minutes since he slammed the door, but the silence was taken over by the clicking of the lock and you swiftly backed up to the wall again. 

the door opened and the lights flicked on, through your stinging eyes you could see it was a woman. she didn’t acknowledge you at all and just walked over to ellie and it was then you saw she had a similar but smaller chain. “we can give you anything, just let us go home,” you whispered while the woman knelt down and began to wrap up ellie’s leg with the chain. she shook her head, not answering. “please, we can trade with you. we can forget all of thi–” you were cut off by the sound of an explosion from outside and the woman snapped her head towards the open metal door. she said something under her breath before sloppily attaching the restraint to the hook in the wall. 

she tugged on it, making sure it was in place. meanwhile gunfire erupted from the streets, the sound making it’s way all the way down into the basement and the woman looked panicked while she made her way towards the door, not even glancing at you once. as if she couldn’t bear it. “don’t do this! don’t leave us here!” the strain in your voice was prominent, the desperation even more so and she stopped in the doorframe, her back to you but you knew she was contemplating something. a glimmer of hope sparked in your chest, the woman didn’t turn around but she swiveled her head to the side not looking at you fully but just enough for you to know you had somewhat gotten through. the gunfire was louder than ever, distant screams could be heard as well and you worried that if they all died you two would rot down here forever. 

a mumbled, “i’m sorry,” came from the woman, you barely heard it with everything going on above ground. her fingers hovered over the light switch for a quick second, she finally took a good look at you and quickly reverted her eyes to the floor. the woman took her hand back, leaving the light on before shutting the door behind her. another explosion from the streets made the floor rattle beneath you, dust falling from the now cracked ceiling above you. but you were focused on ellie and again you brought yourself to the middle of the room to be closer to her. you could see her hands twitching slightly and you inhaled a sharp breath, “ellie!” you screamed over the muffled shooting, looking back up to the cracked ceiling. her eyes shot open in a panic hearing the world around her and she looked confused as she gazed upon you before her eyes fell to her ankle, wrapped in a chain. 

a loud crashing sound came from above, it wasn’t an explosion but it was definitely something big and you both flinched as it rumbled the room. using her very little energy to leap towards you, she came up short, her restraint stopping her just a few feet from you but it felt like miles. ellie cursed, turning to look at the metal around her ankle before looking back at you, the fear was present in her eyes which troubled you. ellie wasn’t one to fear most things, but in this moment she was terrified. not for herself, but for you. “your chain, ellie–” you spoke, pointing to the wall behind her. there was no time for anything else and ellie immediately turned her head to examine it. 

it was very obviously loose, a few good tugs and it would be out of the wall unlike yours which was bolted in. the woman who had done it being distracted by the events outside, or the guilt. either way, it worked in your favor as ellie began to aggressively try to pull it out of the cement wall. “come on!” she grunted, using all her strength. another explosion above made the room shake and she looked back at you for a quick second, making sure you were okay. returning her focus to the wall she wrapped the chain around her wrist and leaned back. the bolt came flying out of the wall, dust crumbling to the ground below it. 

she swiftly came over to you, cupping your face again, “are you okay? can you stand?” she rushed out, practically yelling over the gunfire that felt like it was getting louder as the time went on. she gently helped you up, propping you against the wall. “get your strength, we’re leaving–” her hands left your body and she picked up the chain that was laying pathetically on the ground. the end of the bolt was thick and heavy and ellie didn’t think twice before slamming it against the lock on the metal door. 

you took deep breaths, trying to place weight on your foot with the metal around it. it stung but you pushed through it as the metal clanging against the lock got more aggressive. you winced but finally put most of your body weight on it, standing up straight only using the wall for minimal support. the pain in your legs was something unlike you had ever felt and for the first time you looked down at them. long and thin slices along your thighs and calf that burned with every move you made. you could barely remember it happening but quick flashes of the man with the scar came to your mind, his sinister laugh as he would drag the blade along your skin. you shut your eyes tight trying to dismiss it, only to open them back up when you heard the lock on the door tumble to the ground. 

“hang on,” ellie called back to you as she flung the door open. now that the door was open, the shooting and the screaming above ground was much louder. you could almost make out the words that were being yelled but you focused on other things, like the pain in your ankle as you put more weight on it. ellie vanished from sight into the exposed basement and your heart fluttered just a bit with her absence, terrified of anything to happen to her and you really would be stuck here. but she returned, a pair of bolt cutters in her hand. she didn’t bother with the metal still around her, instead immediately coming over to you and snapping them off within seconds. she removed the chain around your ankle, being careful not to hurt you but no matter how gentle she was it still seared in pain and whimpers left your mouth. “i know, i know,” she cooed to you as the air hit your raw skin after days of being encased. 

she snipped off her own while you held on to the wall. it wasn’t long before she had her arm wrapped around your shoulder, helping you walk out of the room. it was slow and painful as she guided you up the stairs, the door to the basement was shut and ellie leaned you against the wall again before she pounded at it with her shoulder. it had been locked but it was a hollow door and nothing was stopping her now. three thrusts of her shoulder and the door burst open. “lets hope they are too busy with the raiders to even notice us–” she said, picking you off the wall and bringing you back above ground. 

even in the hallway of the house, the sun was burning into your eyes. the sudden brightness being almost paralyzing and your hands went up to cover them as you trudged on. ellie sat you down on the dusty couch and you took this moment to really recharge as much as you could. you didn’t dare look down at your legs, fearing seeing them again would bring back the man with the scar so you focused on ellie. she crouched down by an open window, observing the streets before her. the fighting was deafening now, guns non stop firing their bullets and the sound of trucks screeching through the streets. ellie’s view was horrendous, dead bodies scattered the street in front of the house. blood pooling everywhere and going down into the drains as if it were water. the people who had managed to stay alive this long were running for cover anywhere they could, yelling for back up as more of their people went down. 

she could see a burning building just up the road, flames as high as she could see and the smoke was clouding the surrounding houses. more people running, more screaming, more gunfire. it was overwhelming for you after days of isolation and you buried your hands in your face. an explosion sent ellie to the floor, it sounded like it was just a few houses down and as she ducked she caught a glimpse of you on the couch. her eyes soften and she crawls to you to stay low, her hands come up to your arms covering your face. “hey, look at me,” she cooed, but you weren’t there, at least mentally. suddenly you missed the isolation and even craved it again, but you knew that was stupid. ellie called your name as softly as she could over the loudness that was your surroundings and you finally met her gaze. her hands wrapping around your bruised wrists. “we’re going home, okay? i promise.” 

all you could do was nod at her, her voice as comforting as it usually was was doing very little for you in this moment. but she sounded confident, and thats all you needed. she helped you up slowly again, you winced as you put weight on your bad foot and ellie’s grip around you tightend and she led you to the door of the house, “won’t they see us?” you asked out of breath as she opened the door. the fresh air hitting you in the face despite the stench of dead bodies filling the air, it relieved you. 

“they’re busy–” she started, helping you down the small steps to the sidewalk. your feet scraped on the wet bloody cement and ellie was already struggling to keep you up, her focus shifting from you to the people fighting for their lives. there was a small group of people to her right across the street, hiding behind the parked car in the driveway. she made eye contact with one of them before hurrying you along, scared that they would somehow recognize one of you. she thinks back to the man she killed alongside the house before she found you, how he didn’t even know you were locked away. to put herself at ease, she assumed everyone didn’t know besides a select few important people in the community, and if there was this bad of a fight going on she knew they would be stowed away for protection. 

ellie was dragging you as fast as she could, the gunfire was blowing her eardrums out, the horrific yelling of people bleeding out all around you two would haunt her for years to come but she kept moving. looking at you every so often to give her the motivation she needed. someone ran in front of the two of you, looking to find cover in the house beside you but fell as quickly to the ground and blood pooled out of them onto the road, their eyes staring blankly up into the sky. ellie looked in the direction of where the bullet would have come from, making sure to keep walking as she did but seeing no one so she quickly brought her attention back to you, helping you step over the body. 

the sounds of horses hooves could be heard over the gunfire, neighing as loudly as they could before being cut off entirely, the gashing sound of flesh filling your ears and your head turned back to where you had just come from. horses laid on the ground, peoples bodies trapped underneath gasping for air before more raiders came to finish the job. ellie was pulling at you, as you had slowed down to take a look, before you turned your head back you caught a glimpse of one of the horses who laid motionless, and despite all the blood you could see a freshly burned J on it’s leg. “ellie–” you said, not taking your eyes off the sight even though your neck was straining itself. your vision focused onto one of the last surviving men trapped underneath the limp horses and your heart leaped. you recognized him, a quiet but friendly regular at the pub in jackson. he always smiled at you, making polite small talk while waiting for his food. you remembered his smile but now as you looked at him it was hard to imagine, his one free hand that wasn’t being crushed under the weight of the horse going up to defend himself. but the raider showed no mercy and immediately fired a shot into his head and ran back down the street in the opposite direction. 

your mouth opened, a gasp coming out but ellie didn’t turn around to see it, her focus was on getting you out. “ellie, its jackson–” you uttered, your head turning back to face front. your eyes were permanently widened and you just stared at the ground as she kept pulling you along the sidewalk. “it’s not raiders.” you finished and ellie took a glance around, seeing more and more people scramble out into the streets. she witnessed a woman fall onto her back after running from  behind a small house, she tried desperately to get back up, her hands sinking into the grass for balance, barely pulling herself back off the ground before another familiar face came into view, shooting her straight through the back and her face fell into the grass, lifeless. it was eugene, he started to reload his gun before his eyes met ellie’s, and she quickly redirected her stride towards him. 

“thank god,” she mindlessly uttered beside you as her feet brought both of you towards him. she quickly realized how scary the situation you two were in if it was just raiders. how unlikely it would have been to get out of her unscathed, but seeing eugene lit a fire inside of her. 

he called your names as you got closer, meeting you both about halfway there. his eyes scanned over you, taking notice of how badly you’ve been hurt and he handed ellie a small pistol. “you guys okay?” he asked loudly, his eyes darting between the two of you and your surroundings. eugene obviously knew you weren’t okay but with all that’s going on, what else could he possibly say? he walked back slowly in between the houses and ellie helped get you there before carefully sitting you down on the grass to rest. your chest was heaving, your ankle burning like never before and all you wanted to do was sleep. ellie and eugene had crouched down, staying as close to the wall as they could get. 

“we’ve been holding them back but we didn’t expect this much resistance–” eugene was rambling. the red staining his clothes was almost identical to ellie’s and he wiped his face to remove the sweat that had built up. “you weren’t supposed to come alone.” he said sternly, looking directly into ellie’s eyes and she brushed him off. 

“joel? tommy?” she asked in a hurry, reloading the pistol in her hands that had been emptied. 

eugene watched as raiders ran down the road, passing the two houses you were hiding between without a second glance. he let out a breath of relief, “they’re here somewhere looking for you,” his eyes focused back on ellie and she kept the pistol firm in her hand, sneaking a look at you and feeling her chest tighten as she watched you struggle to catch your breath. her gaze lingered on you while she responded to eugene.  

“we have to keep moving, they wo–” ellie was cut off, a booming gunshot echoing in her ears and her head snapped to find eugene face down on the ground, a bullet going straight through his skull. instantly, ellie was up on her sore feet, her pistol pointed at the woman who stood behind eugene. the woman's gun pointed directly at you instead of ellie. 

“this is because of you–” the woman spoke with tears in her eyes, she was small, bony even. like she hadn’t had a proper meal in days. she didn’t look very threatening but ellie wasn’t taking any chances and kept her aim firm on the woman's head. she was speaking directly to you, ignoring ellie’s gun. “you brought them here!” her words were getting caught in her throat as she spoke, there was blood on her shirt and all over her hands. ellie wondered who else from jackson she had probably killed while you thought about who she might have lost today. either way, you both knew ellie wasn’t letting her walk away. 

“you people did this to yourself,” ellie’s voice was flat and stern, clicking her gun and aiming for her forehead. but the woman didn’t flinch, keeping her gun trained on you along with her gaze. 

“we just needed food, we were starving!” she thrusted her gun forward as a threat. ellie didn’t stagger, keeping her finger right above the trigger. 

“we could have traded, it didn’t have to be like this.” you spoke up from the ground, staring into the barrel of her gun. ellie slowly moved her feet to be in front of you and the woman’s eyes widened and the gun in her hands left you and pointed directly in the middle of ellie’s chest. 

“stop moving!” she shouted very obviously not in her right mind, tears streaming down her face but it’s like she didn’t even notice. her gun was trembling in her hands, compared to ellie who was as still as ever in front of you. a loud crash took the woman's attention away for a split second. ellie used the distraction in her favor and you expected her to fire her gun, but she had other plans. she dropped the gun to her side, pulling her switchblade out as quickly as she could and lunged at the woman in front of her. she tackled her to the ground, straddling over her and jammed the blade straight into her bony chest with a grunt. 

the woman cried out and thrashed her hands around ellie’s face trying to claw her way to freedom but it was too late, her blood came spilling out of her in a frenzy and it was mere seconds before her arms fell to the ground with a thud. ellie picked herself up off the woman, wiping the blood from her blade on her jeans. her eyes met yours and nothing was said about it, or about eugene laying on the ground beside you. instead, ellie helped you up from the ground knowing you had to get moving now. you didn’t protest, but you were shocked by her actions despite them being necessary and now you wondered about how she had found you, how she was and still is covered in other peoples blood head to toe. your girlfriend was capable of a lot more than you had realized. 

the two of you stayed behind the houses instead of walking the streets, feeling a little safer with the shield the houses provided. passing by each house, wailing could be heard behind some of the walls, barely noticeable with the shooting still being so prevalent on the street. ellie made a turn between houses and led you up that way, remembering this was close to the entrance to the town and she figured the people who came from jackson would be stationed there to block their exit. 

and she was right, coming out from behind the house you both could see the men on horses in the distance. ellie kept you both covered by the house, waiting for the perfect moment to make a run for it. she feared you two had gotten this far only to be shot so close to getting home. you scanned the faces at the entrance and someone you didn’t know all too well made eye contact with you. he quickly reverted his eyes to someone beside him and they both looked in your direction, they muttered words amongst themselves. there were probably about twelve of them all guarding the entrance, and ellie was desperate to find joel’s face amongst them but she couldn’t make out their faces from so far away. 

and before you could regain any strength to keep going, they threw a small canister into the middle of the road. it landed just a few yards from the two of you and erupted in a puff of smoke and heard a muffled, “GO!” from the gate ahead of you. ellie wasted no time, basically dragging you down the foggy street as you were tripping to keep up. you couldn’t see and you were choking on the fog but you knew you were close, the sound of horses becoming louder and louder with every step. 

there was a break in the fog as you reached the outside of its cloud and you could see them just ahead, their guns were trained behind the two of you just in case raiders came through the smoke. you finally felt safe, finally feeling truly relieved. the gate was about three yards away and ellie was looking harshly for joel or even tommy in the small group but she couldn’t find them. 

thats when the bomb went off, sending you backwards and landing on the ground with such force you couldn’t move. ellie fell just a few feet from you, her ears ringing with fury. the air was knocked out of her and she rolled over, gasping for any air to enter her lungs. her eyes fixed back to the gate, hoping to see the men coming to aid them but the gate itself was blown to bits. pieces of body parts falling out of the sky and onto the cement, her vision was blurry but she could see red. a lot of red it felt almost fake. she tried to push herself up with her arms to get a better look, failing and falling back down to the ground with a shaky groan. she blinked her eyes, hoping to be able to see normal again and she could make out the redness was the group of men, mangled and blown to bits along with their horses. she couldn’t process it and her head was turning to find you, her eyes getting heavier with every blink and she fought to keep them open. 

your eyes were already focused on her, but you didn’t try to move in fear of not being able to if you tried. both of your minds were fried, cloudy messes of shock. being so weak and now mind’s jumbled, you or ellie didn’t fight back when cold hands lifted you from the ground and placed you gently into an armored truck. 

——

tag list: @ohcoolcoolcool @l0v31t @frogtits1 @gold-dustwomxn

[ghostingtheconflict]

PROLOGUE:

B̶̧̡̧̡̠͕̣͇̫̰̠̙̯͎̪̫͇͍̟̄̅̔͜ͅͅr̶̨̧̢̨̡̧͚͖̥̞̻͍̪̟͈̰͎͔̯̺̃͐̂ͅë̷͕̠̜͉̰̫͖̱̻̬̹̥̖́͐̎͗̓̉̑͐̕͘̚͘ă̴̲ḵ̷̘̱͎̀̄̾̉̏̅̕͜i̸̢̬̱̲͍̱̭̪͇̜̟͌̀̓͂̍̐͜n̸͈͌̓̾̓́̉̈̇̓͆̀̆̅͛g̸̡̡̢͔͖̺̫̰̘̲͛͂͑̂͐̽̽̎̽̓͌͑̑͒͜͜͜ ̸̧̛̛͓̭̱̞͈͚̠̟̜̳̻̣̪͈̫̓͌̌̿̈́̎͊̇́̕ͅT̶͓̻̬̼̺͔̯̘͎̠͈̘̘͇̣̖̘̱͖̫̞̭̰͊̃̉̐͆̈́̈́̉̋̔̐͐͌͐̉̇̚͘͠h̷̳̜͖̱̹͆̊͌̾̿̌̃̀͋̈́̋̿̋̊̆́̃̚͠ͅë̴͖̹̬̯̳̫̤̖̘͖̱̠̝̣̩͎͇́̾̆̅͆̓̀̔͒̈́͋͗̿̍̕̕̚͜͜͝ ̵̢͚͇̜̦͕̈̎̌͒͒̈́̒͌̑̍̓̋̈́͒̎̾̒̏͝ͅB̸̢̧̨̖̩̖̫̹̹͖͋̋̊͒̆̋͆͛̓̓͂̃̑̿͊̀̓͘̕̚̕͠a̷̢̮̥͙̩̖̟̣͔̼̻̠͖͉̱͇͋́ͅͅn̷̡̢̤̖̗̬͈̈́̆̃͑̀̍̍̓̓̌̃͆̓̈́̓̀͘͠ͅk̵̡̻̱̟͈̋͐͒̃͗̚. Part 1

Henry stood at the front of the building. It was a familiar one, for he had seen it more times than he could remember it. New timeline, same old heist that goes wrong.

He couldn't even reset earlier than the bank anymore thanks to those assholes at the C.C.C. Which was a little annoying but whatever, they couldn't stop him anyway.

The middle of the desert was always a wonder for him, hot and scalding the way it is. And yet, there it was, proudly standing, the 'bank’ in question, it was more of a vault if he was being honest to himself, after all there were very few people here.

There wasn't much to do at the moment other than go ahead and start. But this loop felt. Different. He could feel it somehow. 

So, he did the one thing that he could to test it, and approached the side of the building. Waiting to see the 'options’ he had to go with.

And that was when it happened. When he expected to see the disguise or the bombs. There was nothing but completely new things to go on about. No teleporter, no shovel, just new stuff like an option to threaten security.

To say he was shocked was an understatement. This never happened. No matter how many times he traveled all the way back just for the heck of it.

He kinda feels curious on where this will lead him, and so he chooses the first option that feels like it would get him a fail.

> Smash Ball 

The moment he spawns this in, a very familiar hedgehog spins in and knocks him out of the picture to try to get the ball, with a narrator loudly announcing GAME as he does so. 

Reference, his stand and voice of failure simply tells him “And the winner is ! Blue blur !” before he goes back to the options. 

Oh yeah. This is gonna be a fun one. Let's see how much chaos he can cause since the timeline is fucked like this.

A couple of trial and errors in new possibilities are nice. He was starting to get bored of overthrowing Reginald, killing the Right Hand Man, betraying Ellie or Charles, or even working for the government after all.

This. All of this was shaping up to be a new fun playtime to him. So off to the next fail !

> Threaten

Henry jumps in and tries to hold one of the guards hostage to threaten the other by opening the doors for him to steal the cash. But the guard is able to throw him to the ground and aim his gun to Henry's face. 'Should have taken some fighting lessons.’ Reference says mockingly.

> Puffle

He summons a black grumpy furball that seems uninterested in helping in his shenanigans. That is until Henry reaches in his pocket to see what he could use and sees a ring-like treat which seems to make the little guy more excited. He feeds it to the puffball and it explodes into flames, flying around in the air burning whatever it was on its path until it landed in one of the cars. The guards, scrambling around uselessly, try to put out the fire and catch the creature, which gives the opportunity for Henry to sneak by, pickpocket their keys and enter the building while they are distracted.

He didn't see all the fails as of now. But he can always go back for them later.

—---------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile elsewhere in the desert:

The Chaos Containment Center, or C.C.C as most who knew of them called it, was not in fact containing chaos at the moment. If anything they were panicking over the new incredibly high amount of chaos that was currently concentrating within an area of the desert. And if the screens were right about this. Henry Stickmin was the source.

Henry Stickmin is not really news in the C.C.C due to the amount of incidents they can trace back to him. A category 9 to 10 tends to do that.

This. However. Was far too different from the expectations of the guy.

Something broke. Horrifically at that. And if they don't fix it, everything that this world knows and understands will break too.

If the source was something like a misplacement or alteration of events as we know it, the multiversal fix-it button would be able to weed out and destroy the anomaly. This never worked in trying to destroy Henry however, to the disappointment of many of the people there.

Not this time tho. Something else is happening and no one has the answers any of the employees working can give. 

The directors in every branch are trying to keep the peace and search for what the hell went wrong. Others have currently barricaded themselves in a panic, some were trying to see if this was the first few stages of a possible apocalypse and so on and so forth.

They knew that their biggest concern and life long enemy was at the center of it. The issue is that through some camera feed they have, they were able to conclude Stickmin had no idea why this was happening either. And that was bad.

If it was a deliberate attempt to cause the increase of Entropy again they would be able to make Henry stop by hijacking some of his powers for an endless loop of fails until he stopped it and let the world progress again without incident. Some of the higher members in the facilities shudder at the thought of one of those happening again.

Seriously, how the hell can someone 'accidentally’ split a continent in half ???

But if Henry didn't know why the timeline broke either. Then something or someone else is in play here. This not only means that there could be someone more dangerous than the kleptomaniac messing with everything, and worse, going undetected, but this could also mean some higher being is interfering or Henry's powers might be developing a little Too Much sentience for anyone's liking.

The thought alone puts fear in all of them. 

Best case scenario ? They put things the way they were before without too many hiccups.

The Better case scenario ? Henry is gone and the chaos levels of the world decrease exponentially. Killing whatever it is that's currently causing this.

The worst case scenario ? Pray to god that their reality itself ends quickly and not with the borders of their world being slowly consumed by whatever all powerful hungry void might come for them.

Hope is thin, and all they can do is search for a way out of the mess that has been created.

—---------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in the skies:

Something happened. They don't know what. But something definitely did.

“So are we just gonna stand in here oooor ?” says Randy Radman.

They all knew instinctively that they somehow could get out of the portraits their souls were trapped in after their deaths today. 

That never happened before, not even when Terrence was the leader, which was one of the most chaotic and fearful years to live as a toppat due to how close the clan was to falling had Reginald not overthrown the man.

None of the alive toppats that passed through seemed to be able to see them either. They didn't have enough chaos energy to be able to.

This however wasn't going to stop most of them from helping their clan anyway. They may no longer be the leaders but they still had loyalty to them.

The issue is that Terrence seems terrified to leave his own portrait. His chaos level was always higher than most leaders. Which was both a blessing thanks to the setting of powers he had which had helped in some situations while he was alive, and a curse due to his reckless attitude.

So the fact the man was quiet and afraid of what could be out there that freed them was something to worry.

“We still don't know how it's possible that we can leave now. And with the idiot over there refusing to talk we have no idea what could happen. Hell for all we know, our souls might get sucked out of existence if we get out of the airship !” Jacques had inquired.

Most of them were pondering on what to do. Sir Wilford IV had other plans however.

“Alright. How about we compromise here, fellas ? Some of us can rotate between the divisions to keep an eye out for anything that could be malicious, anything that might give ya some sort of 'this shouldn't be here’ feeling. And on the other hand, I know for a damn fact that some of y'all are curious on what outside looks like nowadays.” He looks at Randy, who has moved closer to the exit now but stops acting like he was just caught in the act. 

“So if we can spread out and cover more ground while relaying important information to each other we might be able to find this 'issue’ and either deal with it so it doesn't try anything funny with the clan, or try to make it side with us so the government can't do anything too drastic.” Several nods and murmurs of agreement happen. Right now they know next to nothing on how and why this happens. But they sure as hell are not going to let this opportunity slip away.

As they all leave to experience the wonders of the living world once more. Terrence still remains behind. 

The thing is, he was afraid, but not enough to let it stop him from doing whatever he wanted. However, something deep inside him just kept telling him to not say anything, to bide his time with this. Let them think fear is driving him to silence and watch as whatever happens unfold. 

With a grin on his face, as no one else was in their personal hell besides him now, he knew that the promises of nothing but destruction would come soon. To simply wait for it.

He wasn't sure what the 'it’ would be, but he had a feeling he would know it when he saw it.

And he was nothing if curious enough to wait.

End of part 1

Hope you guys enjoy this one for now.

We still have some other PoVs to go through in part 2 so be excited teehee.

[androidcharles]

Adjusting to Circumstances

NO BETA WE DIE LIKE CHARLES ANYWAY IT'S TIME TO SET UP THE NEXT ARC, SO HERE'S THAT FIC!

Rupert is having a bit of trouble adjusting to the Toppat Clan. He feels out of place as he tries to go through the motions. Meanwhile, something else is brewing.

No major TWs as far as things are concerned, there might be some swearing. Other then that, enjoy!

Rupert opened his eyes, feeling a bit disoriented as he rose up, almost a little panicked as he suddenly remembered where he was. The dream he had was a little too real. He was back in the government forces, but the details seemed to escape him as he woke up a bit more. He sighed as he threw his legs over the bed, stretching as he started to get dressed.

He should be lucky that he had a room to himself for the time being, but he figured it would be like that for long. The Toppats didn’t seem to be interested in anymore new recruits. Aside from him, of course. He sighed as he opened the door, looking to see a few Toppats grouped up, talking amongst themselves about their days, about the government agents they’ve taken down and what they’ve stolen.

Rupert gently caressed the ring on his finger, one of his steals that he managed to get as he headed out the door, walking down the hall to get some breakfast.

He tried to pretend he didn’t notice the stares as he walked by, heading to the cafeteria upstairs as he spotted his cousin, Carol talking to some of the girl Toppats. She seemed to be in a good mood as Rupert ordered his food and took a seat at a random table.

It didn’t seem all that bad all things considered. It wasn’t any different from being a government agent, to be honest. He would go to training for a few hours and then he usually killed time either by doing something like helping fix up the house or he would be called to take care of a heist. Unfortunately, one of the heists he was called on involved the Triple Threat team and he almost felt guilty fighting Henry and Ellie as he protected some precious uncut emeralds he managed to snag.

He managed to get away with injuring them just enough that they wouldn’t chase, but he still felt bad. He slapped his face a few times as he winced, trying to keep himself from being to cut up about it. Again. It wasn’t the first time he had felt hesitant about hurting someone to get what he wanted.

He figured it would be easy. He would adjust to this just fine without much trouble, but so far he was having a hard time. He heard his name called as he picked up his food and headed back towards his table, getting ready to eat when he saw his mentor slide next to him, his own food on his tray.

“Uh… hello Five Eyes,” Rupert said. Five Eyes smiled at him as he patted his hand.

“You feeling alright, Rupert?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just… I guess I thought I’d be used to the whole fighting police officers and government agents thing, but I guess I was wrong,” Rupert said.

“Something else is bothering you, though. I can tell…” Five Eyes said. Rupert remembered that Five Eyes was magic just like him and one of his talents was reading minds.

“Well, I guess one other thing that’s bothering me is that… a lot people keep comparing me to my uncle and… well it’s kinda starting to get to me. I guess they expected more of me when I joined and I don’t know what to do,” Rupert said, “It’s like I’m trying to live up to an imaginary expectation and it just… it just sucks.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not uncommon for people to make those comparisons. You are his nephew after all,” Five Eyes said, “But I wouldn’t worry too much about what they’re saying. You’re your own person you know. You’re not Jaques or Carol or even The Witch. You’re just Rupert. And you fight the bad guys and do things your own way.”

“I know, I know, but it feels like I have to work fifteen times as hard to prove that!” Rupert said, “I don’t want to constantly be compared to my uncle forever and ever…”

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry about that,” Five Eyes said, “How about we focus on combat these next few weeks. I know that you’re already used to it, but something tells me that’s something you need to work on. Let’s meet up in about an hour after breakfast in the training area, OK?” Five Eyes said. Rupert nodded as he stood up to go meet with some other higher ups as Rupert glanced back at Carol’s table.

Maybe I should go sit with them… Rupert thought before pushing that thought away, eating the rest of his breakfast as quickly as possible before heading out of the cafeteria. The least he could do is talk to Amelia. She was the only other person besides his cousins that he felt comfortable talking to as he headed down the elevator to one of the lounges for all the rookies and new recruits. The grunts as they’re called as he opened the double doors to find that Amelia wasn’t there.

That’s strange, he thought, Shouldn’t she be here by now? He headed to her room to see if she was maybe sick or something (it was very often that she overworked herself to the point of giving herself viruses) only to see the Right Hand Man helping carry a cardboard box out of her room.

“Sir?” Rupert asked.

“Oh, hey Rupert. Maybe you can give me a hand with this. Amelia’s moving out of here after all. Gotta make sure it’s clean for the next person,” the Right Hand Man said.

“Moving out?” Rupert asked.

“Yeah, I’m no longer being punished! As much…” Amelia said.

“Reg, around the beginning of summer, punished this little brat along with some other higher up Toppats and I guess he figured they must have learned their lesson. So she, along with those Toppats are going to be moving up a rank,” the Right Hand Man explained.

“I’m gonna finally get my own room! I mean, I already had my own room to begin with, but now I’m not expected to share it with anyone!” Amelia said.

“Oh… so I guess you won’t be hanging out down here anymore, huh?” Rupert said, trying to hide how disappointed he was.

“No, we can still hang out! I just… won’t be down here as much anymore,” Amelia said, “But in all honesty, you should really get to know your fellow Toppats a little better! It might do you some good!”

“I agree,” the Right Hand Man said, “I know it’s tough, but from what I’ve heard, you barely talked to anyone these past few weeks you’ve been here.” Rupert sighed as he nodded his head. That’s why Carol was so hyped up earlier. She had endured the same punishment as she had told him and was now finally moving up in the ranks.

“Rupert, don’t just stand there, get that box upstairs! I’ll show you my new room!” Amelia said as she beckoned for Rupert to follow her. Rupert let out a small sigh as he followed her, hoping he would be done in time for training.

- - - - -

While he did get scolded a bit for being a few minutes late, Five Eyes didn’t seem to mind too much once he found out he was helping Amelia out.

His training went by as quickly as it could, with him learning a few moves that even he didn’t know and some magic tricks that would come in handy. He had a bit of trouble with one, though, so Five Eyes suggested that he borrow a book from the Witch so he could hone his abilities a bit more.

After he was dismissed, he went to get something to eat before stopping by the Witch’s room, which was as messy as it usually was.

“Hey, Rup,” the Witch said as she looked up from her desk, “Whatcha up too?”

“Um… Five Eyes asked me to borrow a book from you. Something about… magic focus?” Rupert said.

“Hmm… yeah I might have a copy of a book or two lying around somewhere. Lemme take a look and see…” the Witch said as she headed towards her messy bookshelf, “So, how are you adjusting?”

“To magic? Not well. Some spells come easily to me while others are a bit more… well… complicated,” Rupert said.

“Not magic you dumb dumb. I’m talking about being a Toppat,” the Witch said, “I imagine it must be pretty fun, right?” Rupert glanced down as the Witch tipped her head to the side, a book in her hand.

“That doesn’t look like the look of someone who’s having fun…” the Witch said, “Are you sure you wanted to join?”

“I am!” Rupert said, “I did want to join, but, I guess… everyone keeps comparing me to my uncle and… well, it’s kind of discouraging, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess I don’t blame them. But you’re not him at the very least. You’re your own person.”

“I know I’m my own person, but it feels like I have to try harder to impress you guys! Especially considering that I was a government agent,” Rupert said, “I’m not sure what to do…”

“Well, working yourself to death won’t help anything. Just keep trying and prove yourself in little ways. The clan will warm up to you eventually. Once you’ve gotten used to things, they’ll see value in you,” the Witch said, patting his head, “I promise.” Rupert rushed over to hug her as she smiled.

“Now, let’s see about finding that book for you,” the Witch said.

After he got the book from the Witch with the promise to return it, he wandered over to the elevator, before he suddenly realized that he was about one floor from the top floor…

He didn’t really have any reason to go, but it wasn’t like he was forbidden from going up there. In fact, some Toppats often went up there to look at the pictures or patrol the halls to protect the leaders. He pushed the button for the top floor and waited for the elevator to stop, walking out into the hall, noticing how quiet it was. He stepped through the hallway, gazing at all the leaders before he saw the portrait he was looking for.

He gazed at Jaques Kensington, getting a funny feeling from it as he walked towards the picture, letting out a small sigh.

“It’s so ridiculous…” Rupert said, “I bet when you were in the clan, you didn’t have to deal with all this. I bet you were a great Toppat. I mean you became the leader for crying out loud! So… what would I have to do to become a great Toppat like you?”

Rupert sighed as he leaned his head against the frame, feeling like bursting into tears as he glanced down the hall and saw a young kid. He regained his composure as he glanced at the kid, sneaking over to see what picture he was looking at, the portrait of Terrence Suave. He was grinning really wide, his hazel eyes almost golden with dusty brown hair that had a bit of gold flecks to it as well. He was holding up what looked to be a golden gun, something he had seen Reginald carry from time to time.

Rupert glanced at the kid, who was staring with this sort of fear in his eyes.

“Hey… you OK?” Rupert asked.

“Huh? Oh, hello,” he said. He actually looked like a spitting image of a younger version of Terrence, almost too much, right down to the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. He glanced at Rupert before he shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just uh… looking at this picture of my dad,” he said, “Sometimes I come up here whenever I’m feeling down. But… in the end it just makes me angrier looking at this PICTURE!” The kid punched the wall, causing the picture to shake slightly as Rupert jumped.

“Do you hate your dad?” Rupert asked, kind of understanding how he felt for a brief second.

“No, not really. My dad was a really great person… up until he became the leader. I don’t know what happened to him, how he changed or why he changed. It just makes me so angry though. Before he became leader, he was the kindest most amazing person in the world. Then we just started growing apart…” he said, “I remember when Uncle Reg told me that he killed himself.”

He let out a small sigh as he leaned his hand against the wall, staring down at the floor as if remembering that awful day.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked.

“I guess I was doing the same thing as you,” Rupert said, “Looking at my uncle's portrait. Although, it’s because I’m being constantly compared to him in regards to my… training.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re the new Toppat everyone’s been talking about. Rupert right?” the kid smiled at him, though it looked pretty forced.

“I’m Ace. Ace Williams,” he said.

“Yeah, Rupert Price,” Rupert said, “So, I guess we’re both in the same boat huh?”

“For different reasons. Jaques was a great leader from what I heard. A bit eccentric, but he was an amazing leader before he disappeared. My dad though, he was an awful leader. Apparently he pulled bunches of money from the budget on heists that didn’t make sense, he tried to hurt countless people in his raids when we don’t usually do that kind of stuff and worst of all, he was responsible for a lot of injuries. And when he was being overthrown, he hurt and killed a lot of people. Including someone that my Uncle Danny was close to…

“And it’s awful because when you think about all the people who had to live under his rule, they oftentimes would look at me and think that I’m the same. Like I’m gonna turn into an evil twisted version of my dad for some reason and… I don’t know what to do…” Ace muttered.

“That… that sounds awful,” Rupert muttered, being lucky that most of his comparisons had to do with his shortcomings. Having to be constantly compared to a relative that was completely awful must be much worse.

“Yeah, but I can’t exactly blame them,” Ace muttered, “I’m just scared that I might become like him. Sometimes I get this awful feeling in the back of my mind…”

“I can’t imagine someone as nice as you becoming like that,” Rupert said, “You seem way too nice to be like what you just described…” Ace’s eyes twinkled as he looked at Rupert.

“Thanks. That actually means a lot to me…” Ace said.

“You’re welcome. You know, if you’re ever feeling down, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you,” Rupert said, “Unless that makes you uncomfortable!”

“No, no, I’m glad. I’m just glad that someone understands me, you know,” Ace said, “And don’t worry about the thing with your uncle. I’m pretty sure you’ll be just as great as him one day! You may even be the leader too!”

“Nah…” Rupert chuckled as he glanced down the hall and saw Amelia, Dave, and Charles walking down the hall, talking amongst themselves.

“Amelia, what are you doing up here?” Ace asked.

“Picking up Charles and Dave so we can start practicing,” Amelia said, “Charles wants to write another original song before the end of this month, so we’re meeting three times a week this time.”

“Don’t worry, I think we can manage!” Charles said, “I just wanna write something really good!” He glanced up, jumping for joy as he hugged Rupert tightly.

“And how are you adjusting, RooRoo?” Charles said, “Feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” Rupert lied, but it was convincing enough to make Charles smiled.

“That’s good to hear! Henry thinks you’re doing just fine. Especially after that injury you gave him. He said he’d hasn’t seen you that serious since your time in the government forces!” Rupert’s eyes twinkled at this as Dave waved at Rupert.

“Say, Rupert, you wanna join us for practice? I know we’re gonna be in the room most of the time, but maybe you can listen in on us while we practice,” Dave asked.

“Can I come too? I’m so bored and I had a fight with Nicole earlier…” Ace said, “I’m kind of scared to go back to the teen’s lounge now because of it.”

“Yeah, totally! Maybe after we practice a bit we can put on an impromptu concert!” Charles said. Amelia giggled.

“Alright, follow me! We can’t keep Accordion and Violin waiting forever,” Amelia said. Rupert felt a bit less confident when he heard those names as he headed to the elevator, following the three to the music room.

- - - - -

Ace and Rupert sat in the chairs around the small stage in front of the music room as they listened to the faint sounds of rock and roll from the practice room. Rupert had to admit, they sounded pretty good, but on occasion Accordion or Violin would interrupt whenever possible to help lead them in the right direction.

“Geez, I knew they were tough, but they seem like a sports coach. Glad I’m not into music,” Ace muttered, absentmindedly playing with a guitar he decided to pull out of storage (with permission of course).

“I can already imagine that they’re used to this kind of thing,” Rupert muttered as he heard Charles talking loudly to Amelia and Dave.

He had taken the time to read the book he had borrowed while he was waiting for Charles and the others to go on break. He had to at least brush up on his magic studies while he waited.

Finally, after some time, the three of them walked out of the room, clearly exhausted as Charles lightly jogged towards Rupert, throwing himself over a the chairs as he sat next to him, hugging him.

“This is the best kind of break time because I get to spend it with you!” Charles said as Amelia and Dave sat next to each other, talking quietly, “Uh, dude, you’re holding that wrong.”

“You’re holding that wrong,” Ace said in a mocking tone as he held the guitar in an even more incorrect position.

“Ace, be nice. Charles knows a lot about music,” Amelia scolded as Dave giggled.

“So, I guess you guys aren’t doing the impromptu concert then?” Rupert asked, a little disappointed.

“Oh no, we still are! We’re just taking a small break before we set up. You’ll help Dave with his drums right?” Charles asked.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Rupert said, nuzzling Charles’ forehead.

“Yuck, love fest… do I have to help set up too?” Ace asked.

“You will if you want to listen in,” Violin piped up, causing the others to jump.

“Unless you wanna go back and face Nicole. Or apologize to her…” Amelia said, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’ll help, I’ll help! Just let me give this back to Mr. Clef first…” Ace muttered, putting the guitar back in it’s case.

The group began to help set up the stage with the amps, microphones, and of course, Dave’s drum set, which seemed like a bit much for him. Rupert commented that he really didn’t need this much as Dave blushed, saying that Amelia had gotten it for him and he didn’t want to turn it down.

Finally, the band was set up as Charles started to tune his guitar, Amelia working with her bass as Dave checked his drums. The doors were wide open, so anyone who happened to walk by could listen in, but Burt in his office noticed the commotion through the cameras and decided to finally test out the new system he had a couple of the tech Toppats set up. He flicked a couple of switches on his dashboard, causing a bit of screeching sound to play throughout the manor.

“Testing, testing… my that’s loud, isn’t it?” Charles said, not realizing what was going on. Amelia was suddenly steaming up a bit as Ace got up front and center, Violin trying to put some ear protection in his ears. Accordion sat next to his husband, almost looking up expectantly as Charles glanced at Amelia and then Dave.

“Let’s play ‘I’d Do Anything.’ I like singing that song,” Amelia said.

“OK, let’s start with that!” Charles said, “Ready?” Dave nodded his head as he counted them off, Charles already playing with vigor and feeling as Amelia began to sing the song. Rupert smiled, feeling sort of happy as he glanced up at his boyfriend playing on stage, singing that backup vocals as the song echoed through the Toppat manor.

A couple of Toppats passing by ended up growing curious, walking in to listen in on the song.

But while that was happening, the Toppats of the manor bobbing along to the music as they worked or talked amongst themselves, a shadow slipped through the halls, stepping carefully to make sure it wasn’t noticed.

It quietly flitted from wall to wall until it finally managed to reach the top floor of the manor, where the hall of leaders was. It stopped briefly in front of the portrait of Jaques as his form became a bit more corporeal.

He was wearing a pink top hat with a very loud feather in it, bright pink clothes that glittered and sparkled, his eyes hiding behind ladder shades as he listened to the song echoing through the halls.

“Not bad… but not what I’m here for…” he muttered quietly to himself as he clapped his hands in front of him, a magic symbol appearing below his feet as he concentrated. He saw a faint yellow glow from the painting and smiled, knowing exactly what was going on.

“C’mon Jaques, baby, we can make this work…” he muttered as he concentrated even more, feeling a splitting headache coming on. Maybe it was the music that was playing, or the pure determination in his heart, but finally, a hand popped out from the portrait. Not a ghostly hand, but a human one. The man grinned, but he knew he couldn’t stop there as he continued to concentrate as the hand grabbed the edge of the frame, as if Jaques was trying to pull himself out.

Finally, after a bit of struggle, he managed to surface his head, gasping as he looked to see who it was.

“Randy?” he whispered.

“Long time no see,” Randy said through gritted teeth.

“Grab my hand!” Jaques shouted. Randy grabbed one of Jaques’ hands as he pulled him, still concentrating on the spell as he successfully pulled him from the painting. Jaques suddenly shouted as the painting suddenly exploded, shaking the hall as Randy held onto Jaques tightly, feeling tears in his eyes.

It was just as the song ended too. Charles played the last bar and just as the Toppats in the room were about to cheer, the explosion occurred. Everyone was suddenly talking as Burt panicked, turning off the intercom system in the music room and scanning the security cameras. He had to admit, it was partially his fault this had happened.

Reginald and the Right Hand Man burst out of their office meanwhile as a couple of Toppats made their way upstairs to see Randy and Jaques, looking at each other as Jaques felt his magic strength regaining once again.

“Welcome back, Jaques,” Randy said softly as he nuzzled him.

“Randy?!” They jumped when the suddenly realized what was going on. They looked up to see Reginald, a look of malice in his eyes as he approached him.

“You dare show your face here again after everything you’ve done!?” Reginald shouted, “I can’t believe you!”

“Randy, what’s he-?” Jaques started as Randy grabbed Jaques’ hand a pulled him to the end of the hall.

“Forget that! Just teleport us out of here!”

“WHERE?!”

“ANYWHERE!?”

“You’re not going to escape!!” Reginald shouted as Jaques concentrated his magic and decided the safest bet was to teleport them at least 10 miles from their location. He clapped his hands and in a puff of red smoke, Randy and Jaques vanished.

“DAD!!” Amelia shouted as she ran down the hall, “Is everything OK?”

Reginald stared blankly at the empty spot where Randy and Jaques had been as he turned to the now growing crowd of Toppats.

“Amelia, tell Charles and Dave it’s time for them to go home. Everyone else, I need you to fan out and find those two! They can’t have gone far!” Reginald shouted.

“What!? But we haven’t-!” Charles started as Amelia started to push him and Dave towards the roof.

“No point arguing dude. He’s in one of his moods!” Amelia said as Charles tried to object and Dave meekly followed behind her.

Rupert finally managed to get to the top floor as Ace followed closely behind, clearly excited.

“What’s going on, what happened?!” Ace shouted.

“I’ll tell you what happened! Randy decided to show his ugly mug here again after everything he’s done!” Five Eyes shouted, “C’mon Rupert, we’ve gotta study the magic aura of the spell they used. Maybe it can help us figure out where they went!” Rupert nodded his head as he followed his mentor to the end of the hall.

“Hey, Jaques’ painting is gone!” Ace shouted. Rupert gasped as he glanced down the hall, running towards where the painting was and saw the frame completely destroyed, the canvas missing as a burned scorch mark was right in front of the place where his uncle’s portrait was.

“...Uncle Jaques?” Rupert whispered, feeling the magic aura in the air.

- - - - -

Jaques, meanwhile, was hiding in an alleyway in West Mesa, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as he clutched a cube with a glowing yellow aura. He clutched his other hand as he glanced back at Randy, who was laying back against the wall, seemingly exhausted as he looked up at Jaques.

“Jaques, baby… you have no idea how much I missed you…” Randy said softly.

“Of course, but what you did was dangerous! You should have just taken my painting and ran!” Jaques scolded as Randy sighed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I was in such a rush, I didn’t really think straight. I wanted to see you again so badly…” Randy said, “I hope they can forgive me for that much.”

“Speaking of which, they seemed to be pretty upset with you for another reason. What happened while I was gone?!” Jaques shouted. Randy winced as he glanced up at the sky, gulping as he looked down before shaking his head.

“I was just… so miserable. I thought… if I just partied my way through my troubles, it wouldn’t hurt as bad. Losing you, I mean. I know you were just trapped in the painting, but I couldn’t talk to you, I couldn’t communicate with you. I missed you so badly, you have no idea, I’m sorry, I was a disappointment to you in the clan and I was a disappointment to you as a right hand, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-” he was suddenly interrupted as Jaques locked his lips to Randy’s, feeling a wave of comfort and relief going through his body.

“I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t gone after my sister, but the Masquerade… they wanted to hurt her,” Jaques said, “I feel awful for disappearing the way I did. I shouldn’t have left you behind… I’m sorry…”

“Jaques…”

“Randy…”

They held each other tightly, sobbing and crying as they felt warmer then before, almost safe and comfortable in the dark alley they were in. They stayed like that for a few minutes before they finally let go of each other.

“So, what should we do now?” Jaques asked.

“I have a hideout in Stickopolis we can crash at. However, I need to my magic strength back up. After all, you don’t know where it is,” Randy said.

“Well, I have my magic power. And thankfully, I can keep us hidden until you regain your strength,” Jaques said, already summoning forth his magic, “Concentrate on getting your strength back. I’ll protect you. I promise.”

As a small shield went over them, a pillow and some blankets being summon under and above Randy, he walked over to caress his cheek.

Randy smiled, feeling happier then he had ever been in the past twenty years.

[celestie0]

Hi ellie sweetie im so sorry abt that anon and that u receive that kind of pressure regularly

You and your mutual did not deserve that bullshit

If you dont mind tagging their account then id like to check it out im sure their a very talented writer just like you

You’ve built this platform for yourself and us and im very proud of you seriously I find it incredible what you do because again i’ve sent an ask previously about how much I adore kickoff it’s literally become the love of my life rn and it hurts that it’s not published bc obviously I want to have my favourite book displayed on a shelf

I’m so grateful that I discovered this gem (and you too 😘) meanwhile your just another human being somewhere else in the world living your own life and choosing to share your work with us for free and that’s not something that should be taken for granted so ty bby for giving us your time and gracing us with your immaculate brain (*smooches* 🧠)

anyway it was probably just some bratty little 13 year olds sending those kinds of asks because they haven’t yet figured out that the world doesn’t revolve around them so please don’t let it get to you

Tbh I was wondering why you hadn’t been responding to asks very recently but only because interacting with you has become a cute little part of my day so I was just a little bummed to not hear from you

Mainly I just panicked that I’d accidentally been blocked or something lol

and ofc I’ve been waiting for chapter 11 of kickoff and also the ihm update as well and I’m really excited for that but you take your time love it’s your precious work

hi babe!! i saw your follow up ask too and yes indeed my mutual is the one that writes symptoms & causes!! @/lostfracturess <3 HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE SERIES IT’s one of my FAVE fics ever!!

omg idk why but u saying you are proud of me hit me in my titty 😭💕 in like a wholesome way LOL…yea these entitled anons can make us feel like slaves sometimes but thank you for giving me a feeling of being proud of my platform i’ve built n my works too :”) that’s so sweet. and PLS tysm for the love for kickoff too aaa <33

it’s my pleasure to share my works w my lovely readers like you :”) it’s hard to stay positive w hate n negtivity but i remind myself most of my readers are literally walking angels on earth so PLEASE!! i should be thanking YOU!!

and hahah yes darling also referring to your follow up ask, i was just a lil busy on vacation so i’ve been hella behind on asks 💀 sorry to cause any concern!! i’m so happy to hear interacting w me is a cute part of your day pls 😭💕 you’re adorable

i’m so glad you’re looking forward to my updates bb <3 so sorry this ask took me a while to respomd to but i had such a huge smile on my face when i read it for the first tiem :”) sm love from me <33

[missperfectlyfinewrites]

@whileurmine // ellie & frank

Ow.

One moment everything was fine, the next, it hurt. It took Ellie a moment to realise what had actually happened. It wasn't until panicked voices on the street and sirens echoed in the distance, that she'd some what figured it out.

A car crash. It wasn't her fault. She didn't think it was her fault? They'd come from the side, or behind her, and just crash. Her poor car. Her first thought was ow and then her poor car. It hurt to move. Ellie wasn't quite sure she could get her seatbelt off. She wasn't sure if she was meant to.

"Help is coming," echoed from the street. "You'll be okay, Ellie," another voice - maybe from the sweet old lady who owned the corner store in town? Ellie couldn't quite tell, but everybody kind of knew everybody. Her bottom lip quivered and tears danced in the corners of her eyes, and things hurt, but she just had to wait, right?

Meanwhile, over the police radio, "Car accident on the corner of Kennedy & Marshall. Can somebody please run the following license plates?" A pause then a call out of the two different license plates. "Ambulances are on their way, caller in says that blonde female in her late twenties is injured. Awake but injured. We've asked them to not move her from the car. Other driver, a male, caller in says he is cause of crash, doesn't seem to be too injured, will still check out. Priority is getting the road blocked off and an ambulance to the female,"

[onebigerror]

@nomorerhyme​   asked    :    “   this   cannot   be   happening   "    (    ellie   to   liv   )

                    is   she   fucking   serious   right   now   ?   ?   ?     their   plane   just   crashed   and   ellie   is   just   sitting   on   a   stump   feeling   sorry   for   herself   and   not   doing   a   single   damn   thing   to   help .     meanwhile   ,   olivia   is   in   overdrive .     she’s   running   around   like   a   chicken   with   its   head   cut   off   ,   doing   her   best   to   provide   assistance   where   she   can   and   trying   to   lead   the   others   into   keeping   a   level   head .     panicking   doesn’t   do   anything   but   lead   to   more   panic   and   chaos .     you   know   what   else   doesn’t   help   ?     doing   absolutely   fucking   nothing   ,   which   is   precisely   what   ellie   is   doing .     reaching   down   ,   liv   roughly   grabs   ellie   by   the   arm   and   yanks   her   up   off   her   tree   stump   ,    ❛   yeah   ,   well   ,   it   is .     so   ,   get   off   your   fucking   ass   and   do   something   t’   help   instead   of   just   sitting   there .   ❜    she   doesn’t   care   if   it’s   harsh   ,   but   it   needs   to   be   said .

@laebyrinths

unfortunately, ellie was serious. serious as a fucking heart attack. why should she have to do anything? she wasn't even supposed to be there. if she didn't get tired of listening to her sister beg about nationals and cave she wouldn't be! when it came to chrissy there wasn't much that ellie would say no to. and this is where it landed her. in the fucking middle of a fucking forrest god knows where. with a sprained ankle that misty had told her to keep elevated. advice she'd promptly disregarded in favor of sitting on the tree stump to complain to anyone that would listen. liv was doing enough work for three people so that just gave ellie more incentive to do absolutely nothing. what she wasn't expecting was for liv to yank her clear off the ground. the others had merely looked at her and rolled their eyes. this was brutality and she intended to tell her sister about that once she found her again! "hey! careful! i hurt my ankle. crazy, axe-wielding, psycho girl told me to sit." not exactly but she was going with it. "you'll make it hurt worse!"

[rosaliestark01]

Dusk Till Dawn - Part 7

Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Peter and your friends realize that you’re in trouble, meanwhile Tony seeks advice from the other Avengers

Warnings: angst, injured characters, angry!Y/N

A/N: @annies-marvel-imagines will no longer be posting more parts, but she will still receive credit.

Tony paces around his lab, clearly thinking hard. Lately, that was where he spent most of his time. Currently, He was working on an upgrade for your suit. Usually, he'd have finished the upgrade weeks ago, but for some reason, it is never good enough, and he inevitably ends up scrapping it and starting over.

"Tony, you've been working for hours," Pepper says as she steps into the room. "Vision ordered pizza."

"I'm not hungry," he mumbles without looking up. This time, he was sure that he'd be able to finish the upgrade. Then, he'd be able to move on to upgrading Peter's suit, then his own.

"You've been saying that a lot lately." Pepper sighs as she walks up to him and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Does this have anything to do with Y/N?"

"You mean my daughter who hates me?" He mutters under his breath, but she heard it nonetheless.

"She doesn't hate you. She's just going through a tough time." Pepper was a teenager once, and she'd had times where her relationship with her parents wasn't perfect, despite them wanting the best for her. All she needed was time, and maybe you do too.

"Pep, she can barely look at me." In all his years of raising you, Tony had never thought that your relationship with him would ever become what it is now. "Did I do something wrong?"

Pepper didn't exactly know what to say to that. She didn't think that Tony did anything wrong, yet how could she make him see that?

"Come and eat. Maybe we can all talk about it downstairs," Pepper finally said as she leads Tony to where everyone else was waiting.

-----------------------

"Happy?"

Harley was currently poking Happy with a selfie stick he had found under someone's car in an attempt to wake him up. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, and Peter was starting to lose it.

"Dude, he's out cold," Harry groaned in annoyance that Harley actually thought that poking him could possibly wake him up. Harley rolled his eyes as he stood up, leaving the selfie stick next to Happy's motionless body.

Meanwhile, MJ was becoming fed up with Peter's constant pacing. She, and the rest of their friends, could clearly see that he was starting to lose his mind with worry, which was the least helpful thing at the moment.

"Sit down," MJ said to him in hopes that he'd calm down enough to think clearly. None of them could really be in the right state of mind while their superhuman friend was in panic mode.

"I can't-" He argued, and both Harry and Ned had to sit him down on a nearby bench. He seemed calmer, but not by much.

"Peter, just think for a second. Something isn't right," Ned exclaimed. It was pretty evident that something bigger was going on than just you going missing and Happy being knocked out.

"Yeah." Harley agrees, nodding his head while deep in thought, "Y/N goes missing, and Happy is out for the count."

"So someone took her?" Betty asks. Everyone was thinking it, but she was the first to say it aloud. It was scaring them how real this was starting to feel.

"Eloise," Peter huffed angrily. He should have known that she'd ruin everything, yet he allowed himself to let his guard down.

"Pete, Ellie didn't take Y/N," MJ sighed.

"Then who else could have?" He yelled. He was sick and tired of everyone seeing Eloise as an innocent misguided girl when in reality, she was the devil in disguise."I have told you guys since she moved here that she is bad news, but nobody listened! Now Y/N is gone, Happy is hurt, and I'm never going to see the love of my life again and-"

"Why would Eloise take Y/N?" Harley asked, not disagreeing with Peter though not wholly convinced. "What use would she have with her?"

"That's what I'm going to find out?"Peter stated as he stood up, his friends following close.

"You can't do that by yourself," MJ stated.

"I'll call Mr.Stark." ------------------------- "I dunno. It seems pretty clear that Y/N can't stand to be in the same room as him," Bucky stated bluntly, causing Steve to give him a light slap on the head.

"Buck," Steve scolded, but Bucky wasn't the only one who thought so.

"He has a point," Sam chimed in, although not wanting to be hit on the head like Bucky.

"Hey." Nat chastised. She's seen first-hand how much Tony cares about you. "It's pretty clear that Tony cares about Y/N. She is his daughter, after all."

"Does Y/N have a diary?" Rhodey asked, causing Pepper to glare at him.

"You're not going to read Y/N's diary," She states firmly. You deserve better than that. "That is a breach of privacy."

"So she has one?" Rhodey asks but quickly quiets down as soon as he sees the glare Pepper sends his way.

"Hey, it might give a reason for why she's so distant," Bucky mutters to the group, which provides mixed reactions. Few nod their heads in agreement, while few shake their head. Either way, they all have one thing in common, which is your best interests at heart.

"It might also give her a reason to distance herself even more. We want to gain her trust, not break it," Pepper argues sternly. She looks at Tony for backup, but one look at him tells that he is desperate for things to go back to the way they were.

"I'm gonna look," He finally says while getting up. Pepper gives him an incredulous look, so he continues, "Guys, this has gone too far. Whatever is wrong with Y/n has put her in danger. If Peter hadn't sensed that something was wrong, Y/N could be dead right now. I'm going to look."

For the past two weeks, he couldn't stop thinking about what could've happened at the bank. You could have died if Peter hadn't shown up. He was worried beyond belief that you'd not only die but die hating him.

"We all care about Y/N," Steve said, bringing some relief to Tony that at least someone was on his side. "She's a good kid, and as much as I disagree with invading her privacy, I do care about her safety. I think that any information could help. We need to get to the bottom of this."

Sighing, Pepper realized that maybe Tony and Steve were right. Something was going on with you, and she worried that it might get worse if something wasn't done soon.

"Well, I think it has something to do with that friend Y/N has been hanging out with," Bruce notes, causing everyone else to mumble words of agreement. Y/N hadn't started acting out until that troublemaker showed up.

"Agreed," Wanda said. "Nothing but trouble."

Everybody hesitantly makes their way into your room, and Nat's eyes immediately land on two flash drives, a red and a blue one,  next to your computer.

"Maybe these could be something?" She says, plugging the red flash drive into your computer. Suddenly, everything made sense. The flash drive was full of files about you that belonged to Hydra. It had almost everything to know about you, but the most concerning one shocked everyone.

"She knows I'm not her real dad," Tony sighs. Everybody, except for Pepper, seemed to be speechless. None of them woke up in the morning knowing that they'd find out that you weren't really Tony's daughter, much less discover that you had HYDRA files on your computer.

"What do you mean you're not her real dad?" Bucky asks, just as confused as everyone else.

"And you never thought to tell Y/N yourself?" Steve interjects sternly. This was something you had a right to know. Obviously, you'd get upset from finding out from someone else."Do you know who her real parents are?"

"That's not important," Tony snaps, causing Steve's blood pressure to rise. It seemed important enough to you for you to start shutting everyone out.  It's no wonder you couldn't trust anyone.

"It sounds like it is," He says coldly.

Before Tony could argue further, his phone started ringing. Judging from the ringtone, he could tell it was Peter, so he answered it quickly.

"What-?" Tony's exasperated voice was cut off by Peter's panicked rambling.

"Mr.Stark, Y/N's gone, and Happy is unconscious in the parking lot."

Everybody froze as soon as they realized what Peter was saying. Something had happened to you, and that was more important than finding out that Tony wasn't your biological dad.

"What?! What happened?"

"I don't know! She said she was going to the bathroom, and she never came back, and now Happy is lying unconscious in the middle of the parking lot, and I don't know what to do!"'

By now, everyone was panicking. This was definitely a million times worse than the bank incident because nobody knows where you are, who you're with, or what you're doing.

"Okay, just stay there. Someone will come to get you."

---------------

"Are you going to tell me what the emergency is?" You ask Ellie as she drives you towards the city. You didn't need super senses like Peter to know that this was beyond suspicious. It wasn't sitting well with you at all.

"Your dad is hurt," she muttered, but you heard her nonetheless.

"My dad?" Worry began to flow through you until you remembered that Ellie had no way to know something like that.  "How? He was at the compound-"

"Your real dad," she agitatedly reminded you as she rolled her eyes. It made your blood boil how rude she was being. This wasn't like her at all, and you couldn't help but want to get as far away as possible.

The rest of the car ride was silent until you arrived at Ezekiel's apartment. It didn't look any better than when you were last there. In fact, it looked more run-down than it was before.

The moment Ellie pulled out a key to unlock the apartment, your suspicion grew tenfold. Why would she have access to his apartment?

"What happened?" You sighed as you both entered the apartment to find Ezekiel sitting on the recliner with a bloodied rag pressed to his side. It looked like he had the injury, but the pain didn't seem as apparent as it should. Your "dad" wasn't any better than she was, but that didn't mean that you let him get hurt. Still, he gave you the same weird vibes that Ellie did.

"Tony Stark happened," he barked. He suddenly stood up and began going through his drawers and sloppily throwing. "We need to get somewhere safe."

"Not until one of you tells me what the hell is going on," You say. Things were going so well until Ellie showed up. Now you have a headache and a possibly massive problem in the form of two suspicious individuals.

"Stark found out that you've been meeting with me," he explained, but you weren't buying it. The only people who knew were You, him, and Ellie. You even made sure that you weren't being followed.

"How?" You ask, crossing your arms, waiting for a good enough response.

"I don't know, but he showed up at my apartment and beat the living hell out of me," He retorted, his face scrunching up in anger.

You look at Ellie, who is standing by the door. To anyone else, it seems like she's just standing there, but you've had enough training from Nat and Bucky to know when someone is blocking an exit.

"I don't believe this." You mutter to yourself.

"You think I just happened to end up like this?" Ezekiel yells. You couldn't believe that you were stupid enough to fall for this. Their constant push for you to turn your back on your family was a huge red flag that you ignored. Not to mention you haven't forgotten that time that Ezekiel forgot your mom's name.

"What do you need my help with?" You ask, realizing that the only way out of this is to play along.

"I need you to help me destroy the Avengers."

TAG LIST:

Those who want to be added or taken off can message me or @annies-marvel-imagines. Crossed-out tags mean that Tumblr won't let me tag you.

@eridanuswave @perspectiveparker @spidey-reids-2003 @ilovespideyyy @purplekitten30 @slytherinambitious @mxdblxod @grapesauze @elephants-bubbles-brachosauruses @thegayseance @whiskeywinter89

[avionvadion]

Alsjksksks I just realized I gave Richard (the Team Rocket Dude who “raised” El, (cough tried to groom her into villainy cough)) the same goatee and golden eyes I gave Jonathan (The dude who adopts El and Adrien after Team Rocket is defeated). Only difference is Rich has silver hair and Jonathan a wine purple. 🤣

I’m gonna have to draw them side by side for comparison now. The goatee of evil!!!! Versus the goatee of good… and Jonathan is #best dad, right up there with Joseph Stone.

Is about to have a newborn son, but discovers this random girl and her two friends about to take down a criminal organization, and near immediately the dad instincts kick in- especially when he learns El and Adrien don’t have parents/anywhere to go except to the closest orphanage.

Jonathan: “I’m having more babies.”

El: “Oh. Cool. Congrats… I guess.”

Jonathan, slamming the adoption papers down: “It’s you and the little one, sign here please.”

Matilda, feeding baby Lance before heading to work: “Jonathon, sweetie, what do you have there?”

Jonathan, carrying El and Adrien in his arms, the two decked out in new clothes and eating fast food as he brings them home. “…A smoothie?”

Matilda: “…”

Jonathan: “Okay so we have two more kids now, sorry not sorry. I love youuuuuu~”

Matilda, sighing: “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Alsjsksk jk jk, Matilda already knows about the kiddos. Jonathon talks to her about adopting them a short while before Lance is born, and they renovate the house before actually adopting them so there’s room for El and Adrien.

Matilda loves them. She’s super doting and is super happy to have a bigger family- especially since baby Lance was so hard to come by, so him having siblings makes her ecstatic. She works with Professor Birch in Littleroot, though the family lives in Petalburg, and their house is actually also connected to the Pokemon Daycare Jonathan runs.

Jonathan is a lot like Brock, in that he basically lives to take care of others. Melts when Adrien calls him dad the first time and actually cries when, after years of El just referring to him as Jonathan, she finally refers to him as her “Father” because holy frick she’s his baby girl but she has a hard time letting herself get close or trust others, and sometimes he feels like he’s failing her as a parent, but when she actually initiates a hug or introduces him to someone as her father he just kinda dies inside because yes he is her dad and she is his daughter and he’s proud of her and thank Arceus he didn’t screw up the “being a good dad to an angsty teen” thing.

El, introducing Steven;

Jonathan: “Wait. Wait oh my gods. Oh my gods. You’re my daughter and you just brought a boy home. MATILDA OUR BABY GIRL BROUGHT A BOY HOME AND IT’S STEVEN STONE WHAT DO I DO, DO I GIVE HIM THE SHOVEL TALK!???”

Matilda: “Wait, STEVEN STONE!??? Ellie brought home Steven Stone!???”

Crashing through the house, tripping over pokemon, hair disheveled and circles under her eyes and paperwork in her hands. Matilda scoots to a stop, hopping on one foot, wide eyed.

Matilda: “BABE IT’S STEVEN STONE.”

Jonathan, panicking: “I KNOW. Am I even allowed to give him the shovel talk!??? I’ve been practicing for months now but I wasn’t expecting “Steven” to be STEVEN STONE.”

Turns to look at Steven, about to cry.

Jonathan: “Please can I give you the shovel talk I’ve been practicing very hard and this is my baby girl.”

Meanwhile El is cringing and regretting her decision of introducing Steven to her parents- despite his insistence on it- and Steven is more amused than alarmed because it’s clear the older couple care very much about El despite her not being their biological daughter.

So he decides to humor Jonathan, who tries very hard to give him the shovel talk- but is a bit too emotional to actually get very stern about it.

[echotrinityme]

Distrust Chapter 9: A Thorn and His Diamond

Meanwhile with Rupert and Victoria, they were walking in the park. It was a bright, sunny day with a slight breeze to make the walk more relaxing. Rupert and Victoria were enjoying the walk...well Victoria was enjoying the walk, Rupert's mind was on Henry. He kept thinking about Henry and his feelings for him, he should be enjoying his time with Victoria but he couldn't.

He was worrying about Henry, why? He doesn't know but he has been thinking about his relationship with Henry lately, ever since he showed his vulnerability to him, his feelings for Henry changed. Surprisingly, Henry never told anyone about him crying and his past. He would thought for sure, Henry would be an asshole and tell everyone about his moment with Henry. But...he didn't which made Rupert happy and glad for him.

He even gave him a hug which surprised him and Henry. Rupert actually missed hugging Henry,  he never expected Henry's hugs to be...so nice. He hated being touch cause of his trauma caused by his dad, but Henry warned him about the hug. It was nice of Henry to comfort him even though he didn't expect him to do it, it was a generous thing to do.

"Rupert?" Victoria said, as she noticed Rupert looked distracted.

Rupert shook his head as he turn to Victoria, she stared at him in worry. "Sorry, Tori." apologized Rupert. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing...important."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Tori."

"Okay well I'm here if you need to talk."

"Thanks, Tori." Rupert said, happily.

"You're welcome, Rupert." Victoria replied, as her face became red.

Their exchange ended and they continued walking. After a few minutes later, they decided to sit on a bench. There was a lot of people in the park, there were families playing in the park, there couples having picnics, there were vendors selling snacks, and there people playing with their dogs. They all probably heard of the Cult of Desperationis and were blissfully unaware of the damage they could cause if they ever come near them.

Speaking of the Cult of Desperationis, they have been suspiciously quiet which is not a good sign. The leader was also quiet, the Government hadn't heard any new intel about him nor his cult. It was giving the General anxiety while making everyone unease, they need to find the leader as soon as possible or else everything would go south.

Rupert felt relaxed at seeing everyone and feeling the breeze, he then got a question popped into his mind. "Oi, Tori." Rupert started, as he glanced at Victoria who looked back at him.

"Yes, Rupert?" Victoria said, as she turned to look at Rupert.

"Why did you ask me to hang out today?" he asked, in concern.

Victoria froze for a moment, her face flushed as she turned away from him. "Oh...uh...I...." Victoria stuttered, as she panicked on the inside. "I...just wanted...to...uh...hang out with you."

That was a lie, she wanted to ask Rupert out but she was chickening out cause of fear of rejection. Rupert stared at her for a moment, he didn't look convinced. He wanted to ask her what's wrong but he didn't want to invade her privacy, he nodded as he went back to staring at everyone in the park. Victoria mentally curse at herself for not saying what she really feels,she silently sighed as she glanced at the beautiful scenery.

A few hours later, they had lunch and headed back to the base. They got to the base and saw Charles and Ellie talking, they headed over to them. Charles spotted them and he waved at them, they waved at them as they got to them.

"Hey, Rupert and Victoria." Charles said, beaming.

"Hi, Rupert and Tori." Ellie added, with a knowing smirk on her face.

Victoria noticed that but didn't comment on it, Rupert was looking around. "Oi, where's Henry?" Rupert asked.

"We don't know." Ellie replied. "He was with us before Victoria left to go hang out with you and suddenly, he was gone."

"Yeah." Charles added, in worry. "Before he left, he seemed kinda...off."

"Off? How?"

"He was...distant."

Rupert was confused, Henry being distant? That's new, Rupert hoped Henry was okay but he needs to find him to make sure. "I'm gonna find 'im, see ya." he said.

Rupert left Charles, Ellie, and Victoria alone. Victoria waved at him but he didn't see it, he quickly ran to go find Henry. After Rupert left, Ellie turned to Victoria while still smirking. Charles saw Ellie's smirk and smiled, they both were wondering on how the "date" was.  "Soooo, Tori?" Ellie said, slyly. "How was your date with Rupert go?"

Victoria smiled sadly, "It was...nice but it's not a date." she replied.

"What!?" Ellie exclaimed, while Charles glanced at Victoria in shock.

"Yeah..."

"B-B-But..."

"Just forget about it."

Victoria bowed her head down in sadness, Ellie felt bad for her while Charles was thinking about Victoria's behavior. She was acting like she was in love, wait...is she in love with Rupert Price?

"Hey, Tori?" Charles asked, as Victoria turn to Charles while Ellie did the same.

"Yes?" Victoria replied, in curiosity.

"Do you have a crush on Rupert?"

Victoria made a squeaking noise when Charles asked her that question, which confirmed his question. She covered her face with her hands as Ellie teased Victoria about her crush, Charles told Ellie to stop as he told her that she should tell Rupert how she feels about him. Victoria wants to but she's afraid of rejection, Ellie tells her that she should go for it. Victoria nodded and she says she will do it later, Charles nodded as Ellie gave her a hug.

Meanwhile with Rupert, he was trying to find Henry. He wasn't at his tent nor he was his apartment, he even texted Henry but he wasn't answering. Then Rupert had an idea, he started heading for the clearing. A couple of minutes later, he found Henry sitting on a rock.

"Oi! How come you didn't answer my texts!" Rupert demanded, angrily as he walked over to Henry.

Henry jumped when he heard Rupert, he glanced at Rupert who was walking towards him. He stood up as Rupert stood in front of him, he looked very angry and Henry was a little scared of him.

"Well?"Rupert said, as he crossed his arms.

"Oh! Uh...I...I don't have an excuse." Henry replied, as he bowed his head down in shame.

Rupert took a deep breath and he calmed down, "It's okay, I just wanna to know if you were alright." he said, calmly.

"I'm fine, why?"

"Well, Charles told me you were being distant and I wanna to check if yer okay."

"Oh..."

"Ya..."

Their exchange ended and there was an awkward silence, their faces became red as they turned away from each other. Their faces were warm while their hearts started beating very rapidly, Rupert covered his face with his hat while Henry used his hoodie to do the same. However after hiding his red face for a few minutes, Rupert had enough. He had to talk to Henry about what he's been feeling lately, it's now or never.

"Oi...uh...Henry." Rupert said, as he uncovered his face and glanced at Henry. "I...need to...talk to you about something...important."

Henry uncovered his face from his hoodie in confusion, "Oh?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Well...uh....I..."

Rupert started but couldn't get the words out, Henry raised an eyebrow as he stepped a little closer to Rupert. Rupert was now having even more trouble with trying to talk, it was like talking to a crowd expect he was trying to talk to Henry.

Just then the Bukowski twins came running in the clearing, Konrad was running away from Calvin cause he did a prank on him. After the whole hair fiasco, they decided to prank each other for a while. Konrad ran past Rupert and Henry but they didn't pay attention to him, Calvin also ran past them but he accidentally bump into Rupert, making Rupert fall forward onto Henry. However, not only it made Rupert fall forward but it also made him kiss Henry.

Rupert's eyes and Henry's eyes widened when they felt each other's lips, Rupert is gonna kill Calvin after this.

A/N: Yay! They kissed...but their not together yet, but we're getting there! I'm gonna make myself sad when next chapter I'll write Victoria's heart gets broken...

[arvinsescape]

Bracelets, Amortentia and the Patronus

A/N: Did i combine my love of Tom Holland and Harry Potter? Of course.

Summary: The Gryffindor boy is in love with the Hufflepuff girl. She comes to some realisations with the help of these three things.

Warnings: None.

W/C: 3.4K

You’d been paired in classes with the Gryffindor boy for years, he became one of your best friends throughout your time at Hogwarts. He wrote to you over summer and even sent you gifts when he’d been abroad, the last gift he’d sent you before sixth year started was a bracelet, it was possibly the most beautiful and ‘you’ gift you’d ever received. It wasn’t too flashy but it was enough to catch people’s eye and pull a comment about how lovely it is.

“He loves you.” Ellie said as you made your way to the Hufflepuff common room.

“Well he is my best friend so I’d hope so.” You laughed.

“No, I mean he’s in love with you.” She teased and you snorted.

“No he isn’t. I’m sure he has his eye on a Gryffindor girl, you know one that can match his talents.”

“I don’t think so. You know they say Gryffindor’s and Hufflepuff’s make the best life partners.” She shrugged as you arrived and sat down on one of the couch’s.

“I don’t think he sees me that way.” You said.

“Look at that bracelet he sent you! You are not gonna convince me that Tom Holland is not in love with you and the way he looks at you all the time.” She said as you shook your head with a small smile. “Do you like him? And not just as a best friend.” She asked and you bit your lip. Did you?

He was always the guy you sought out when things went wrong. You practically had all the same classes together. You helped him with the book smart lessons and he helped you with the mostly spell based lessons, there is no way you’d be passing defence against the dark arts without him. You studied late together and most people assumed you already were a couple. He made you laugh and he knew what to do to comfort you when you were sad.

“I don’t know.” You answered honestly after a long moment.

“You’ll probably find out in potions this year or maybe even defence against the dark arts.” She said and you furrowed your brows.

“What do you mean?” You asked confused.

“Well we’re learning the Patronus spell this year and you know, apparently it takes the shape of your favourite animal at first but it can change if you’re in love someone, so you know, his will probably be the same as yours after he’s seen it.” She said and you shook your head. “Then potions we’re making amortentia potion, the love potion, smells like whoever you’re in love with.” She shrugged.

“First of all that potion actually only smells like the things you’re attracted to, that’s what my mum and dad told me. Secondly, maybe we have the same favourite animal, so how would that prove anything?” You laughed and she smirked.

“We shall see.” She teased. “He’s in love with you and I don’t know why you deny it. It’s so obvious, ask anyone.” She laughed.

“I think you read too much into things.” You laughed. “Come on, we should probably go to the feast, see how many new kids we get in our house this year.” You said as you made your way out of the common room.

The Great Hall never ceased to amaze you, it was huge, then again it was made to fit hundreds of people in all at once. The banners were neutral again, when you’d left before summer they held the scarlet and gold colours of Gryffindor after having won the house cup for the second year in a row. Just before you could take your seat you heard your name being called by that oh so familiar Gryffindor.

“Hey!” He said as he engulfed you in a hug, to which you happily returned, burying your heads in each other’s necks.

“Tom! I missed you.” You laughed as he squeezed you tight against him.

“I missed you too, so much.” He said as he let go, you glanced at Ellie for a second who was biting back a smirk. He glanced down at your wrist and saw the bracelet there and he grinned. “Did you like it? I saw it and thought of you.”

“I love it! Thank you so much. Although I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.” You laughed and he waved you off.

“I’m just glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn’t.” He said and you could have sworn you saw a tint of red cover his cheeks. Dam Ellie, she was making you think too much into it.

“I love it Tom. It’s an amazing gift.” You said as you hugged him again.

“Brilliant, I should get back, they’re about to bring in the first years, see you in potions?” He said as he pulled you into one last hug before walking away. You sat down next to Ellie who had the biggest grin on her face you’d ever seen.

“You know to say you’re as book smart as you are you’re very clueless.” She smirked.

“Shut up.” You playfully glared at her as the first years made their way into the hall. They all looked the same, awestruck and nervous all at the same time. It was a look you were all used to seeing after six years here. The feast was brilliant, as always and you gained ten new first years who all had the usual look of relief that they weren’t put into Slytherin.

“You should ask him to that dance the six years hold at Christmas.” Ellie said as you were getting into bed.

“No.” You said hoping to stop the conversation.

“Nah, who am I kidding, he’ll ask you.” She laughed and you threw a pillow at her.

“If he does, it will be as friends, like he did the yule ball.” You quipped.

“Oh yes, the night everybody realised he was in love with you. You made a lot of girls jealous that night. The way he held you, looked at you, fawned all over you, need I go on?” She teased.

“Ellie, seriously. I love you but please stop.” You huffed as you turned over in bed and she laughed before doing the same. Was he in love with you? You doubted it, he could do far better than you, he could have any girl he wanted so why would he pick you? He’s always been attentive sure but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in love with you.

Do you love him? You’re not sure, you’ve always found him attractive and of course when you’d first met him you had a crush on him. He was funny, kind, brave and you admired everything about him and maybe that admiration had been a mask for how you truly feel about him. Whenever you were separated over the summer you’d miss him, it would always feel like you had a hole in your chest, you missed him far more than you did anyone else at the school.

You huffed as you turned onto your back, running your hands down your face. You needed to sleep, you could figure this out later and so you tried your best to fall asleep but your thoughts were consumed by the brown haired, brown eyed Gryffindor boy.

“Tom, do not add that yet.” You almost shouted as you watched him move to put an ingredient into the cauldron.

“But it says here that you add this next.” He said gesturing to his book.

“Yes, but look, you need to stir it first.” You laughed.

“What difference will that make?” He huffed. “Come on I wanna finish it.” He groaned.

“You need patience Tom.” You teased.

“Of course the Hufflepuff would suggest more patience.” He laughed.

“Hey, I’m also loyal and hard working. There’s more to us Hufflepuff’s than patience you know.”  You huffed as you stirred the cauldron and he laughed again as he playfully punched your arm. “Do that again and you’ll see how little patience a Hufflepuff can have.” You teasingly glared.

“You love me.” He smirked.

“Do I?” You teased as he feigned offence. You added the ingredient Tom had tried to and watched as the potion changed colour.

“Okay, just need to stir it again and then add the last ingredient.” You said as you stirred the cauldron. Meanwhile a Gryffindor girl had finished her potion with her partner and was asking Professor Slughorn to look at it.

“Very well done, now give it a sniff and tell me what you smell.” Slughorn said and she did. She took a sniff and then looked at Tom.

“It smells like you Tom.” She battered her eyelashes at him and you laughed, he was about to hear that more than once in this class.

“Erm, thanks, I guess.” Tom awkwardly said you added the last ingredient and stirred it in.

“What does yours smell like? Tell me it’s me.” She said as she watched in anticipation. You found yourself wishing that it would smell completely the opposite to her, a small feeling of jealousy taking over but you quickly tried to dismiss it.

“No, sorry.” He exhaled and she huffed turning back to her partner as he leant in to whisper in your ear. “Do you actually think it smelt like me?” He asked and you laughed.

“I don’t know but a lot of girls are gonna tell you that today so I’d get used to it.” You said and he groaned as you took your own sniff of the potion. Instantly you smelt almost everything you’d associate with Tom. You were taken aback, maybe it was a coincidence? You smelt coconut similar to what he uses to wash his hair and the familiar scent of his cologne. Loads of people use those two things, perhaps you just found the scents attractive.

“Well?” Tom asked, pulling you from your thoughts and you panicked abit.

“You first?” You said and he shrugged.

“Mine smells exactly as I thought it would.” He laughed and you felt your stomach sink slightly, so he was in love? Or at least attracted to someone and you couldn’t know for sure if it was you.

“Mine did but didn’t.” You shrugged.

“Come on give me a hint. Give me one scent you got.”

“Coconuts.” That seemed like the safest bet. “What about you? Give me one”

“Strawberry and mint.” He said.

“That’s two.” You snorted.

“Yeah well they go hand in hand.” He said. You were dismissed after that and made your way into the hall for lunch, ultimately meaning you had to separate. Ellie was there when you sat down.

“So, what did you smell?” She asked straight away.

“Tom.” You sighed and she squealed, practically clapping her hands together as you shot her a glare. “Maybe I just find those scents attractive you know.” You sighed.

“Oh come on Y/N. You are in love with him or at the very least attracted to him. What did he smell?” She asked.

“Strawberry and mint. That was all he gave me but he said it smelt exactly how he thought he would, if he did like me do you not think he’d have told me? Also I’m not sure why I’d smell like strawberry and mint.” You said and Ellie shot you a knowing look and you furrowed your brows.

“First off, maybe he’s trying to decide if you like him before he ruins a six year friendship and secondly what was the one thing you said you needed to do as soon as we could get to Hogsmeade?”

“What? I forgot my shampoo so I need more.” You were utterly confused now.

“So you’ve been using mine which just so happens to be that particular scent.” She grinned.

“But it’s not my natural scent so why would he smell that? Surely he’d smell the shampoo I use all the time. Maybe it’s you?” You said and she laughed out loud at that, drawing a few funny looks from other students.

“It’s not me, trust me. I don’t think I’ve said ten words to the guy since we started and if he’s in love with you, that potion will smell like whatever you do on that day.” She reasoned.

“Maybe. But what do I do? What if you’re wrong?”

“Listen Y/N. if there is one thing every house in this school can agree on it’s that Tom Holland is in love with you. I’m pretty sure you’re in love with him too, you just won’t admit it to yourself.”

You’d thought about what she said for a long time and by Christmas you’d come to the conclusion that yeah, she’s right, you are in love with him but you’re not sure he’s in love with you. Defence against the dark arts had been interesting because he’d cast his Patronus first and you watched a lovely dog burst from his wand. You’d done yours, after much guidance from your best friend and out shot a tiger. When you’d been asked to do it again, Tom miraculously started to struggle which makes no sense because he it was his best subject.

“They can’t change that fast can they?” You asked Ellie.

“I don’t know but he probably didn’t wanna risk it. How would he explain that? If it came out the same as yours that shows a truly deep connection and love.” She reasoned.

“But what if mine came out a dog when I did mine for a second time?” You said and she sighed.

“And you did and it didn’t come out a dog did it? He probably got nervous.” She reasoned. “Y/N, maybe you just need to approach this one.” She laughed and you nodded.

“Yeah maybe you’re right.”

You made your way up to the owlery, wrapped up for the cold weather to send a letter home when you bumped into him again. He was all wrapped up to, he looked adorable with his cold rosy cheeks.

“Hey Y/N, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” He said and you felt your heart rate pick up in excitement.

“Sure.”

“Will you go to that Christmas party thing with me?” He asked and he seemed nervous as you grinned at him.

“Of course.” You smiled.

“Great. As friends.” He said and your heart sunk. Maybe everyone was wrong.

“Sure, yeah. Of course. I need to head back to the common room, I have a lot of homework before Christmas break.” You said.

“About that, are you staying here for Christmas again?”

“Yeah, I always do.”

“Me too.” He grinned and you returned it. Usually he’d go back home but maybe something came up this year. You said your goodbyes as you made your way back to the common room and you felt the tears.

After that you’d carried on as normal. It was quite easy to act natural with him because you’d been doing it for months and when the party came round, the night before everyone went back for Christmas you were excited to spend the evening having fun with him, you’d both been busy with homework. You made your way out of the common room and there was Tom as he said he would be.

“You look beautiful.” He said as he held his arm out for you and you placed yours through his as you made your way towards the party.

“Thank you, you look pretty good yourself.” You said as you took in his appearance. He had a lovely suit on.

“Look, I’ve got a different idea for tonight. I have something planned elsewhere.” He said and you looked at him confused.

“What, you’re throwing a party of your own. Lets go.” You said excitedly as you followed him. He was heading up to the astronomy tower and he sat down on the top step as you sat next to him. “This doesn’t look like a very good party.” You teased and he sighed.

“Can I talk to you?” He said seriously.

“Of course, Tom anything.” You replied quickly and he sighed again.

“Okay, so I’m in love with someone, like a lot, I have been for a while now, like an embarrassingly long time and I’m not sure she feels the same.” He said and your heart beat picked up with nerves because he was probably going to tell you who he was in love with.

“Maybe you should just tell her?” You suggested.

“I’ve tried, hell I’ve tried three times since we got back but I just get nervous because if she doesn’t feel the same it’ll ruin everything.” He ran his hands through his hair.

“I’m sure she will Tom, you’re an amazing guy. Maybe if you can’t tell her, show her.” You suggested as you placed a comforting hand on his bicep.

“Show her? I suppose I can think of one thing.” He sighed as he stood up and you looks at him in confusion. “Wait, I don’t know if I can.” He sighed again.

“Tom, you can. Trust me, just go and show her. Come on you’re a Gryffindor, bravery is your thing.” You teased. You felt utterly crushed that he’s just confirmed he’s in love with someone but you needed to be supportive as his best friend. He took a deep breath as he looked at you and muttered a spell you didn’t quite catch and as you watched him your heart nearly burst out of your chest.

From the end of his wand shot out a white animal and it definitely wasn’t a dog. It was a tiger, a complete copy of your own. You watched as it ran around the room for a while before disappearing. You felt tears of relief making their way down your face, he was in love with you. Your heart was beating insanely fast as you turned to look at him to find him already looking at you.

“But, when you asked me here tonight you said it was just as friends?” You said.

“It was supposed to be more of a question. I wanted to see if you’d bring it up first, you’ve not given me much to go on.” He let out a light laugh. “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.” He said.

“It doesn’t, I’m in love with you too.” You said and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God for that. I was worried you wouldn’t. All I had to go on was coconuts and I can name at least six boys in my dorm room that use that scent in different things.” He said as he sat next to you again. “I was so nervous to do my Patronus again in front of you.” He said.

“Did it change straight away?” you asked.

“No, it took a month or so, I kept trying on my own. Looked kinda weird for a few weeks.” He laughed as you joined him. “I wanted to tell you in potions that it smelt like you but I got nervous.” He said as you rested your head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of yours.

“You know, it wasn’t until potions I realised I was in love with you.” You admitted. “I don’t know why my Patronus has stayed the same.”

“Me neither, magic might be great but it doesn’t always make sense. You know I was hoping you’d mention something about the bracelet, I was hoping you’d figure it out.”

“Ellie did, she told me that you were but I didn’t believe her until just now.” You laughed.

“I love you.” He said as he moved his head and put his hand under your chin turning you to face him. His eyes flicked between your own and your lips.

“I love you too.” You whispered as he leaned closer to you, you doing the same.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered as his lips were inches from yours and you nodded as he grinned and connected your lips. It felt amazing to finally kiss him, it was sweet and innocent but so full of love. He pulled away eventually, grinning.

“Wanna go that party?” You asked and he shook his head.

“Maybe later but for right now I just wanna kiss you for a bit.” He grinned and you laughed as you brought his lips back to your own.

[wearfinethingsalltoowell]

Downton AU Snippet #1

Set in the opening scene of 3.05, Richard’s been Matthew’s valet since abt 3.03

Returning to his dressing room after his sister-in-law’s false labor pains, Matthew Crawley felt a twinge of guilt at seeing his valet still awake.

“It’s nearly two in the morning, Richard. Have we kept all the servants from their rest this evening?” Matthew asked, trying to keep his tone light but unable to hide his genuine concern for the staff’s welfare.

“It was no trouble at all, sir,” Richard responded, conveniently not answering Matthew’s question, “Is everything all right with Lady Sybil?”

“Clarkson says everything is as it should be, and given that I have no experience on the topic, I am going to trust his judgement.”

“In your defense, sir, most men our age have no experience in this particular field.”

“You can say that again. I’m nearing my twenty-eighth year on Earth and I’ve never been around a pregnant woman!”

“A natural consequence of being your mother’s only child, sir. And you should count yourself lucky. When I was younger, I overheard the rather unpleasant experience of a friend of my sister. Believe me when I tell you it’s all I needed to know about the subject.”

“Oh? What happened to her?”

“Her parents were so concerned about her that they shelled out thousands for a huge London doctor to come and treat her. I think he even had a practice on Harley Street. It was all the neighborhood could talk about for weeks. But, during the birth, I guess he missed the symptoms of some disease or other, and she died.” Richard explained, forcing away the growing feeling that he had said too much.

“That’s horrible,” Matthew said, attempting to console his friend, “did you know her well?”

“Not very, though she had been very close with my sister,” Richard said.

“Still, quite tragic, especially for a young woman. Do you remember who the doctor was?” Matthew asked, not knowing what had prompted this sudden curiosity about such a small detail of Richard’s story, but nearly being swallowed by the feeling that it was of paramount importance that he know.

“I could never forget it,” Richard said with a chuckle, “The village was so furious with him, I thought they’d form a mob and storm his practice with pitchforks. It was a Dr. Tapsell.”

Matthew’s blood ran cold, and suddenly he could hear his heart beat speed up.

“Good God,” he breathed, “you don’t mean Phillip Tapsell, do you?” he asked, praying he was wrong in his assumption.

“Yes, sir, it was him. What’s wrong?” Richard questioned when he saw the horrified look on Matthew’s face.

“That’s the doctor Robert has hired for Sybil. I have to tell him right away!”

“I shouldn’t have mentioned it,” Richard said quickly, trying to take back his words, “I wouldn’t want to cause His Lordship any undue stress before his first grandchild’s birth. I’m sure he’s a fine doctor who just made a mistake.”

“Trust me, Richard, if something happens to Sybil, and Cora, my wife, or, god forbid, the Dowager, finds out I knew this information and withheld it, then my war injury will no longer be the most painful thing that’s ever happened to me. I have to tell Robert as soon as I can.”

“If you think it would help, sir.”

“I do, immensely. And I owe you a debt of gratitude for the warning, God only knows what might have happened otherwise. Goodnight.” Matthew said, retreating to his bedroom.

______________________

“You were in your dressing room so long, I was beginning to worry.” Mary said when her husband finally appeared in their bedchamber.

“So sorry, darling, but I promise it was for good reason. I was having the most enlightening chat with Richard.”

“I’m glad to see you and your new valet get on so well. Molesley was nice, but I sometimes wondered if he’d ever interacted with another human before.”

Nodding in agreement at his wife’s comment, Matthew began to recount Richard’s story for her.

When he’d finished, she looked nearly as panicked as he had when he’d heard it.

“And this is the doctor Papa has hired to treat Sibyl?” Mary nearly screamed.

When Matthew shook his head “yes”, she took it as permission to continue spiraling into fear for her sister.

“We have to tell him, and the earliest possible opprotunity!”

Putting his hand through his wife’s hair in a calming gesture, Matthew tried to soothe her worries while panicking himself.

“Darling, I couldn’t agree more. We’ll find Robert tomorrow morning, as soon as he wakes up. Don’t worry, I’m certain the second he hears what Richard told me, he won’t let Tapsell near Sybil. I’m certain Clarkson won’t mind stepping in at the last minute.”

Her worries not quite gone, but recognizing there was nothing she could do until morning, Mary fell into a restless sleep.

————————————-

Meanwhile, in the servants hall, Richard was replaying his conversation with Matthew in his head when His Lordship’s valet walked in.

“Mr. Barrow,” Richard greeted the man whom he’d taken to calling “Thomas” in his head. Her Ladyship’s maid had pulled him aside his first week on the job, and told him that, as one of the longest serving staff members, getting into Thomas’ good graces would help him advance at the Abbey. Richard hadn’t needed to be told twice, and he was glad that he’d taken her advice. Thomas was now his closest friend at Downton (and if he spent a good chunk of time gauging if more than that was possible, that was his own business).

“Mr. Ellis,” Thomas greeted in return, “how are you?”

“I might have just gotten myself in a bit of trouble with His Lordship.”

“You? What could you have said to get yourself into trouble?”

“I was chatting with Mr. Crawley earlier, and I ended up telling him about a friend of my sister’s, who passed in childbirth. It turned out the doctor who failed her is the same one His Lordship hired to treat Lady Sibyl.”

When Thomas burst out laughing, Richard’s concerned expression turned confused.

“What is amusing about that?”

“I’m sorry,” Thomas said, catching his breath, “It’s just that, His Lordship forgave me for literally stealing from him numerous times, is currently fighting to overturn his valet’s conviction for murder, and his wife has a maid who would be more at home as one of Notre Dame’s gargoyles. I truly doubt that his son-in-law’s valet warning him about a potential threat to the life of his beloved youngest daughter is gonna be the straw that breaks his back.”

Realizing from Thomas’ words that he was being a tad ridiculous, Richard sighed.

“I just didn’t want him to stress out unnecessarily”

“I promise, when Mr. Crawley tells him your story, he’ll be grateful to you.”

————————————

The following morning, both Matthew and Thomas’ predictions from the previous night came true.

Mary and Matthew had corned Robert the second they saw him, and told him everything. Robert cursed, made them promise not to tell his mother, and cancelled Sir Phillip’s services immediately, and asked Cora to telephone Clarkson, which she happily did.

And, that afternoon, Richard jumped to his feet when the Earl of Grantham himself appeared in the servants hall.

“Your Lordship,” he greeted.

“Ellis, I wanted to come down and personally offer my thanks. Your conversation with Matthew yesterday evening may have saved my daughter a traumatic experience, and I am very grateful.”

“Thank you, Your Lordship. I’m glad I was able to help.”

______________

This is my first attempt at any type of fic since my ancient Wattpad account, and it is probably very bad, but I hope it was at least cute. Possibly more snippets from this au coming if anyone likes it

[flamingredanon]

Maybe a fusion accident between Henry and Reginald after toppat king, and Henry wasn't even aware that he could do that. Right and Ellie walk-in on the panicking fusion possibly?

Coppermin sees Right and Ellie and are just "Please help?" to them, not even sure how they got like this. Right and Ellie eventually realize that this new person is Reginald and Henry somehow fused together, and Right goes to get Kabbitz while Ellie helps calm the two in one down.

Kabbitz helps the two unfuse and helps Henry and Reginald figure out how the hell they fused.

Turns out earlier in the day, Reginald was being a flirty little shit to Henry and Henry responds with more flirting. The two get face to face at this point and Reginald puts his hands on Henry's shoulders, Henry puts his hands on Reg's shoulders and in that moment they saw a bright flash of light.

Right and Ellie find this funny while Reg and Henry are just, failing to function at this point, realizing that they fused out of love. Kabbitz meanwhile just leaves to do other stuff.